Ocean - A Visual Encyclopedia
Ocean - A Visual Encyclopedia
Ocean - A Visual Encyclopedia
a visual encyclopedia
Ocean
a children’s encyclopedia
Written by John Woodward
Consultant Professor Dorrik Stow
DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales
Plunging breaker 58
promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Surface currents 60
[email protected] Sargasso Sea 62
Printed in China
Upwelling zones 64
All images © Dorling Kindersley Limited
For further information see: www.dkimages.com Deepwater currents 66
A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
www.dk.com THE OPEN OCEAN 68
Depth zones 70
Sunlit zone 72
THE SMITHSONIAN
Established in 1846, the Smithsonian—the world’s largest museum
Zooplankton 74
and research complex—includes 19 museums and galleries and the National
Zoological Park. The total number of artifacts, works of art, and specimens in
Drifting jellies 76
the Smithsonian’s collection is estimated at 137 million. The Smithsonian is a The food chain 78
renowned research center, dedicated to public education, national service,
and scholarship in the arts, sciences, and history. Hungry schools 80
Oceanic hunters 82 Shore crabs 170
Bait ball 84 Estuaries and mudflats 172
Sharks 86 Deltas 174
Filter-feeding giants 88 Salt marshes 176
Baleen whales 90 Mangrove swamps 178
Lunge-feeding whales 92 Scarlet ibis 180
Toothed whales and dolphins 94 Seagrass beds 182
Ocean birds 96 Sea snakes and crocodiles 184
Twilight zone 98
Dark zone 100 POLAR SEAS 186
Ocean floor life 102
Life on black smokers 104 Polar extremes 188
Sea ice 190
SHALLOW SEAS 106 Life under the ice 192
Crabeater seals and penguins 194
Fertile waters 108 Sleek hunters 196
The seabed 110 Antarctic hunters 198
Seaweeds 112 Antarctic islands 200
Kelp forests 114 Glaciers and ice shelves 202
Sea otter 116 Icebergs 204
Seafloor fish 118 Blue icebergs 206
Sea snails and clams 120 Arctic seals 208
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish 122 Icy nurseries 210
Hatching octopus 124 Hunters on the ice 212
Prawns, lobsters, and crabs 126 Humans on the ice 214
Starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers 128
Jellyfish and anemones 130 OCEANS AND US 216
Corals and coral reefs 132
The Great Barrier Reef 134 Voyages of discovery 218
Reef fish 136 Ocean science 220
Reef invertebrates 138 Scuba diving 222
Giant clam 140 Deep-sea submersibles 224
Atolls and lagoons 142 Historic shipwrecks 226
Minerals from the oceans 228
COAST AND SEASHORE 144 Energy from the oceans 230
Fishing 232
Tides 146 Stilt fishing 234
Wave power 148 Ocean trade 236
Cliffs and caves 150 Oceans in danger 238
Twelve apostles 152 Climate change 240
Rocky shore life 154 Marine conservation 242
Tide pools 156 Captive breeding 244
Beaches, dunes, and spits 158
Hidden riches 160 Glossary 246
Shorebirds 162 Index 250
Oystercatchers 164 Acknowledgments 256
Seabird colonies 166
Sea turtles 168
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
ATLAS OF
THE OCEANS
Recent breakthroughs in
Red Sea. Within this vast expanse of water lies an amazing variety of life.
Da
vi
s D enm
St rw a
Hudson ra
it Iceland
n k No Se
Bay Basin B a North
h Labrador C h a r l i e - G i b b s ll
enc ka
R
tian
Tr
Gulf of Sea F r a c t u r e Z o n e Roc Sea
o
Aleu
ck
e
Alaska
NORTH
Ridg
y
Banks of
Gr an d u n dla n d
M
w f o
docino Fra ct ure Zo
ne
AMERICA N e
ou
Men
tic
nt
s
E a s t A z o r en e
N
an
re Zone
Fractu tl Fracture Zo
or
ai
So h m
M urr ay Plain A
n
th
-
re Zone
id
s
M
Kan
aiia
n Molo Mexico Sea e Fra
Isla ctu re Zon Cape
st
Nares e
nd
s acture
Zone
id Ve r d e AFRICA
M
Plain
on Fr d le
Clari Basin
Pa
Am
eric
Tre a
Caribbean Sea
AT L A N T I C
ci
Ch
one
cture Z nc Doldrums Fracture Zone
on Fra
ris
h
fic
p p e rt Guatemala
tm
Cli
ge s
Basin
o
as
c
o C id OCEAN
Ri
Gallego
Ba
R Guinea Basin
dg
e
c h
e
Rise s Galápagos e
si
on
i Islands ure Z
Fract
PA C I F I C SOUTH
n
ension
e n
R
Manihiki Asc
Peru An g o la
AMERICA
r
c
Plateau B a s in
T
ge
Tahiti Basin
d
P a c i
Ri
d e s
- C h l e
ge
ca
ge
ez Rid
Sala y Gom
az
id
N
South west
i
Pacific Rise al
A n
Challe
nger Fractu
E a s t
re Zone W Ca p e
Basin
r u
Lo Ba sin
ui Chile Argentine
Rid svill
P e
ge e Rise Basin
Falkland Islands
Elta
nin F Southeast
ractu ian Ridge
ge re Zone Scotia
Rid Pacific Cape tic-Ind
ic Sea Atlan
rct Horn sage
nta Pa s dian
ic-A Basin ke ntic-In
Pa c
if
Dra Atla
Weddell ain
SOUTHERN OCEAN We d d e l l P l
Sea
A N TA R C T I C A
8
Arctic 4% Southern OCEAN SIZES
6% The five oceans are connected
to one another, and range in 96.5% 3.5% salts
size from the Arctic Ocean, the water
Indian smallest, to the mighty Pacific
Pacific 20% Ocean, which covers more than
47% a third of the planet’s surface. SALTY WATER
This diagram shows how the While 96.5% of seawater is pure water, the
Atlantic areas of the five oceans compare. other 3.5% is made up of various chemicals
23% The Pacific is almost as large as called salts. The most important of these is
Franz Josef
Svalbard Land Kara ARCTIC OCEAN
Sea East
Barents Novaya Laptev Sea
Sea Zemlya Siberian Sea
Sea of Ale
utian
Islands
Okhotsk Ale
EUROPE uti a
n Tr e n c h
h
nc
re
A S I A
Seam
il T
Empe
Black Sea Sea of r
Caspian
Japan
Ku
Sea
ount
n
ror
(East Sea)
H pa Northwest
Izu-Og ch
im
Mediterranean Sea Ja
s
al East Pacific
aya
Tren
Pe s China Basin
h
asa
nc
r
G u sia n Sea T
re
lf
wa
Re
u y
Taiwan k
Ryu Mid-P
ra
d
Arabian acific
Se
de Bay of
a
Sea
Chagos-Laccadive Plateau
Ph
fo
fA
China Sea
ilip
re
Melanesian
Gul Bengal
ipp
T
C na
pin
R id ge
in
ls Sri Lanka
PA C I F I C
e Tr
be
all
es
Ka
in
rg
i ft V
en
Maldives ch
Su
pi Ri
as
ng se
Borneo
Rid
Ceylon
m
iB
N in et ye as t
am
OCEAN
M
Great R
at
a Plain New
ge
al
an
ra
ar
a
J
sc
gi
m
va Java Guinea
are
Seychelles
So
Mid-Indian Cocos T r e n
ne Plateau
ch Arafura Sea
Basin
Gr
New
Basin North
ca r
ea
Coral
INDIAN
Fiji
tB
agas
H
Mi
eb
r ie
d-
Mad
de
ri
s Tr e nch
rR
In
Mauritius
ch
OCEAN AUSTRALIA
Lord
ee
di
Tren
e
f
an
idg Broken R
l Bas
Basin n R Fiji
H
idg Basin
Ri
dec
ia
ow
e Basin
dg
nd
a
tI
e
Nata
eR
rm
w e Zealand
is
A N TA R C T I C A
9
Arctic Ocean
Surrounded by North America, Europe, Asia, and Greenland, e.
ic
the Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the oceans. Its water is frozen
he
over near the North Pole throughout the year, and the area
rt
de
covered by sea ice more than doubles in winter. But over recent
s
ain
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
un
nt
years, the ice has been shrinking because of climate change.
ou
M
K
e
Pacifi
Nort Basin
ific
u
Pol
r
ac
i
Melting seas
l
FACT FILE
hwe
d-P
Tr e n c
rth
Mi
Area: 4,700,000 sq miles
st
(12,173,000 sq km)
o
Average depth: 3,250 ft (990 m)
h
a u til us cr o s se d t h e N
Emperor Seamounts
Deepest point: 18,400 ft (5,608 m)
Icy islands gh
ou
Tr
ror
Aleutian
pe
Basin
Climate change is warming the Arctic faster
Em
Aleuti
than anywhere else on Earth. It is making
more of the sea ice melt in summer, opening PA C I F I C
up shipping routes that were previously
an T
blocked. Within 50 years, summers at the
North Pole may be completely ice-free. OCEAN
ren
ch
Moving target S N Hawaiian
Islands
Men
▲ CHILLING DOWN
S
The North Pole lies in the heart of the
eU
This satellite view shows sea ice forming
doc
Arctic Ocean, in a region that is currently
around Prince Charles Island, Nunavut.
ino
covered by sea ice throughout the year. Its
Mu
in
On the North American side of the ocean, position is indicated by a marker, but since
Fra
rra
ctu
the water is dotted with rocky islands. the sea ice is constantly drifting with the
r
y
a
re
Along with part of the mainland, they form currents at the rate of about 6 miles (10 km) Fr
m
ac
Zo
the Canadian territory of Nunavut. In winter, a day, the marker is always being moved. tu
ne
su b
re
the sea between many of the islands freezes In the future, melting ice at the North Pole Zo
n e
over, so they become part of a vast sheet of ice. may make placing the marker impossible.
the
8,
95 1
n
I
▶ FROZEN OCEAN
The deep ocean basins in the heart
of the Arctic Ocean are fringed by
broad continental shelves and shallow
seas. In winter, much of the ocean is
a mass of drifting pack ice (pale blue).
10
Hima
n e lay
p pi as
i
il ea
Ph S
A S I A
pi
S i
Cas
a
Ok a o f
tsk
ho
Se
Bla
ck S
E
ea
U
Laptev Novaya
rranean Sea
Kara Zemlya
R
Sea Sea
East
O
Barents
Am Lo
Siberian Sea
P
N
an Franz Josef Sea
un mo Ma
E
se
G
n Land
ds no kar
ARCTIC
ak Bas
Ba Sea
en so ov
l t ic
ke
Se ring
Ba
Svalbard
lR
si
Mend
a
id
eleye
Be
Chukchi
ge
in
dite
at chi
Ridge
+ North Pole No
v
Sea
u
Bering Strait r
Pl h uk
Greenland S weg
ea
OCEAN
Ri in
Wandel i
Sea N ea an North
Me
C
Ba
dg
Sea
s
orwegia
e
Canada n Sea
Bea ea
Basin
Basin
De
S
ufo
nm
G
rt
re
ark
Queen e Iceland
Gulf of
Alaska
Stra
Elizabeth Baffin
nl
Rey
an
Islands
it
Ba Bay
kjan
ff i
d
n
Da
I vi
es Ri
s Mid
sl
St
ra -A
an
dge
it t
Rid lant
d
Labrador ge i
c
Sea Labrador
Hudson
N
Basin
Bay
A
E
C
Newfoundland
Basin O
NORTH
T IC
AMERICA
L AN
AT
11
Atlantic Ocean
Dividing North and South America from Europe and Africa,
the Atlantic is the second largest ocean. It is getting wider
.
A
r ld
R H
all the time, at a rate of 1 in (2.5 cm) per year. This is because
IC
E T
wo
M R
the Atlantic has a long spreading rift at its heart and few of the
A NO
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
he
subduction zones that destroy the ocean floor.
nt
ge i
FACT FILE Iceland hotspot
n
lai
ras P
Area:
n ran
41,100,000 sq miles Gulf
(106,400,000 sq km) of
tt e
Mexico
Average depth: 10,830 ft (3,300 m)
Ha
e l o n g es t m o u nt a i
Deepest point: 28,230 ft (8,605 m) Yucatan
Mid
Basin
d l e e n ch
Antilles arc
Tr
Am
Caribbean
eri
▲ BASALT COLUMNS Sea
a c
Cooling volcanic basalt has shrunk and
split into these spectacular rock columns.
In the far north, part of the Atlantic Ocean
Galápagos
floor has been raised above sea level by
Islands
a plume of heat beneath the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge. It has formed the volcanic landscape
e is th
of Iceland, with its lava fields of black basalt,
▲ ACTIVE VOLCANO
hot geysers, ice caps, and glaciers.
Peru
Steam and gas erupt from Soufrière Hills
Mid-Atlantic Ridge PA C
g
volcano on Montserrat, Leeward Islands.
-Ch
d
The Windward and Leeward islands, on the The Atlantic started forming 180 million
i
ile
cR
IFI
fringes of the Caribbean, form an island arc years ago, as a rift in Earth’s crust that
above one of just two subduction zones in divided a vast continent. As the rift opened Tr
C
en
ti
ch
the Atlantic. Here, part of the ocean floor up, new rock formed the floor of a widening
an
OC
is diving beneath the Caribbean, creating the ocean and the rift became the Mid-Atlantic
l
deep Puerto Rico Trench and triggering Ridge. New rock is still erupting from cracks
t
EA
A
the eruption of a chain of volcanoes. in the ridge, like the one seen below.
id-
N
eM
Th
12
Baffin
Greenland Greenland
Bay Sea
Iceland
Norwegian Ba
Hudson s Sea lti
Bay Labrador ne
ja e Iceland N
c
Sea or
Se
dg Basin th
Ri k
y
Se
a
Re
Labrador a
Basin Charlie-Gib
bs
Fracture Zone
Grand Banks Porcupine EUROPE
of Newfoundland Plain
B l a ck
Bay of
ay Rise Biscay Se a
Fract Plain
Se a ur e Z o n e
nt
Canary
tla
ture
Zo n e Verde
Mid
Basin
Cape Verde
Barr
a cuda
Fractu
AT L ANT IC Plain
A F R I C A
re Zone Cape
Verde
D
em Vem
a Fractu
OCE AN Islands
er re Zone Gambia Plain
ar
aP
lai Doldrums Fracture Zone
n
Sierra
Four North Fracture Zone Leone
Basin Gulf
one Guinea
a ct u re Z of
eF r Basin G u i n ea
Romanch Zon
e
cture
Chain Fra
c Ridge
Pernambuco e
Zon
Plain r ac ture
F
ion
S O U T H Ascens
one
Ascension Island c tu re Z Angola
A M E R I C A Bode
Fr a
Basin
B r a zil Zo ne
ure
Fract Saint
lanti
B a s in
lena Helena
Saint He
ge
id
R
s
vi
At
Santos al
ne W
Plateau re Zo i
Fractu
n
as
d
Rise ne Cap
e Zo
A r g e ntin e h a Fr actur
Cun
Tristan da Tristan da Cunha
Basin o ne Gough Island
re Z
Arg
entin Gough Fractu
e Pl ain South Georgia
Falkland
Islands
Sco ti a
Sea
13
A S I A
H i
m a
l a y
a s
Pe
r
G u sia n an
lf Gulf of Om y
ra
ur g e
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
M id
Bay of
China Sea
ne ure
R
South
Red S
Saudi
Arabian Bengal
Zo Fract
Arabia
Sea Andaman
en
d en
Gu aila
Islands
ea
Th
e
Chagos-Laccadive Plateau
fA Arabian
Qu
lf nd
lf o Andaman
of
Gu Basin Sri Lanka Sea
Ca
rl
sb
R i d g e
A
er Maldives
y
Su
e
in
I C
ll
m
Rid
as
Ceylon
Va
at
iB
Plain
ge
ra
Jav
ift
A F R
s Trench
al
Cocos av Sea a
J
Seychelles
m
Ja v
Great R
M Basin a a
So
Investigator Ridge
a s t
Tr
en
as
Chago
Mid-Indian ch
car
Basin
e
Christmas
N i n e t y e
ne Plateau
Mi
e
ain n
Chann ue
Pl care
OCEAN
In
iq
el
as
Mauritius
Mozamb
Cuvier
n
M
di
ge ma
Réunion Plateau
Rid dia
an
In
Madagascar e
dg
st
Basin i Perth
Ea
R
R
Basin
Mada
n B r o k en R
Moz
id
Nata
id g
di
e
gasc
In
am
e
g
l Ba
Di a
biqu
es
Fra mantin
ar P
hw
ctur a
sin
e
Crozet e Zo
late
ne
ut
Plat
South
So
Africa
Basin
au
Cape
eau
Basin So
Crozet uth
Agulhas Plateau eas
Plateau Kerguelen
t Ind
Ke ian
r Ridg
Agulhas
Islands
P l a g ue So e
tea len uth
Basin Conrad u eas
Rise
t India
n Basin
in Sou t h e r n Ocean
rby P la
de
En
A N
T A R C T I C A
14
Th
em
Indian Ocean
Unlike the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Indian Ocean
does not extend far north of the equator. Most of its waters
ain
East
are tropical, aside from in the far south. The deep Java
ly
China
Trench on its eastern margin is one of the world’s most
t ro
Sea
p ic
pin
al I
e Se
ndi
PA
a
ilip
Sulu
C
(73,600,000 sq km)
an O
Sea
e
IFI
Tre
Celebes
Borneo
C O
Island jewels
Sunda
Shelf Banda
N
Sea
t h e w a r m e st o f t
▲ RED SEA
Arafura
This sea may owe its name to the blooms of
North Shelf
red algae that sometimes form on its surface.
Australian Usually, its water is a vivid, glittering blue.
Basin
The Red Sea between Africa and Saudi
Arabia is a spreading rift in Earth’s crust
that is getting wider every year. In the distant
future, it will become a new ocean. The rift
extends south through East Africa, and this
AU
STRALIA will probably open up to form a new sea.
he
Monsoon winds
o rl d w
15
Pacif ic Ocean FACT FILE
Area:
The Pacific is the biggest and deepest ocean, stretching Deepest point: 35,840 ft (10,924 m)
nearly halfway around the world at its widest point. It
was once even broader, but is steadily shrinking as the ▼ GIANT OCEAN
Atlantic gets wider. It is dotted with volcanic islands and The Pacific is so vast that it takes two maps
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
a n .
c e
c O
ifi
Sea of Ale
utian s
Okhotsk Island
c I A A l e u t i a n Tr e n c h nt
s
ch
Em
S n Em
ou
re
Pa
Northeast Pacifi
pe
il T
m
pe
r
ro
ea
Sea of Ku ro
rT
rS
rS
Japan rou
Tr p a n
he
e n ch
gh
ro
eam
(East Sea)
an Northwest
pe
ap
Ja
Yellow
Em
oun
st
Sea J Pacific
Izu-O
ts
Basin
r os
East
Midway
Tr e n
China
h
gas
Islands
nc
Sea
u Rise
re
d ac
T
aw
ch
u Ha
ky Mi wa Hawaiian
Ry u
a
a d-P iia
r
West c Mo
untains
e n ch
Sea e
Pa
lands scattere
South Mariana
M
Kyushu-
Ph
c B
Bay
Tr
sh
PA C I F I C
ilipp
asi
Caroline
l
South Islan
OCEAN
Is
ds
la
China
n
West
nd
nch
Is
Li and
Sea Celebes Caroline East Melanesian Central Pacific
Ka
l
ne s
s
Basin Basin
Borneo Basin
Su
gam
ma
arang
Celebes
tra
Guinea
Ja
Sea
i
az
Basin Tr Arafura Sea Tr
0
enc Islands e n ch
h
0
Sea Samoa
0
Basin Vanuatu
ea
New
Basin Tahiti
tB
ch
,
Fiji
ren
ar
Fiji
Sea Niue
He
ri e
Basin
aT
rR
New
br
ng
de h
OCEAN Caledonia
s Tr e nc
i
ee
f
To
han
AU ST RALI A Southwest
Lord How
South
Broke Fiji Pacific
n
ch
Basin
Lo idg
Rid Basin
ge
et
en
uis e
R
eR
Tr
vil
Louisvill
ec
le
ise
or
ad
Ridge
rm
16
Coral islands
The tropical western Pacific has thousands
of coral-fringed islands. Some of these
islands are the rocky summits of extinct
oceanic volcanoes, but others are formed
of coral sand. Built by living organisms,
the coral reefs support all kinds of wildlife,
and are the richest of all marine habitats.
T he
Em Submerged seamounts
pe
Tre
nch
tian Gulf ro Only a fraction of the volcanoes that have
Al eu
Tufts
Aby
of
Alaska r erupted from the ocean floor are visible
Plain ssal as islands. Most of them form submerged
Se
N O RT H mountains known as seamounts. Some
Mendocino Fracture Zone
am
A M E R I CA of these were once volcanic islands that
AT O C
ou
Zone became extinct and sank below sea level.
Fracture
Murray
LA EA
N N
ul
Guadalupe
are in long chains, including the Emperor
f of
ne
TI
cha
Molok Seamount chain that stretches across the
l
C
ifo
Mexico
rn
re Zone
i n str
Revillagigedo
o n Fr
actu C
A EN
Clari Islands
Mid ▼ VITAL SUPPLIES
dle
Am M T Caribbean
eric
a Tr ER RA Sea The ocean currents swirling up and over hidden
en
ch IC L seamounts carry vital food to the surface, and
A
e t c h e s f ro m H
Basin id
P A C I F I C O C E A N co
sR
Co
one Colon Ridge
act ure Z
os Fr
Galá
pag Galápagos Carnegie
e
Islands
Ridge SOUTH
s
e n c h
one
i AMERICA
ure Z R
Fract
u esas
Marq
Galápagos
c
Tr
Rise Peru
i
Basin
a
i f
Gallego
ge
w
d
Rise
Ri
s
h i l e
ca
P a c
ai
az
N
d e
ure
Easter Fract
- C
n
r u
Islas Juan
A
he
Fernández
Challe
e
nger Fractu
re Zone from spreading rifts that create mid-ocean
P
n e
A
Rise
Men
Southeast tia
Elt
ani
ard
Fract Pacific floor move faster than others, making the
n F ure Zo
rac ne n
ture
Zone Basin
rock crack along the sliding faults of fracture
SOU Isl zones. But the earthquake zones around the
THERN OCEAN nd a Pacific are destroying ocean floor faster than
A N TA R C T I C A s. it is created, so the ocean is shrinking.
17
Southern Ocean h).
The icy Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is the windiest, p
0k
most dangerous ocean on the planet. It is scattered with towering
30
icebergs that have broken off Antarctica’s vast ice sheets and
h(
Ar ge ntine
A
glaciers, and in winter its surface is a sea of tumbled pack ice.
mp
IC
ATLAS OF THE OCEANS
Ba s in
R
Cold water flowing from beneath the ice drives powerful
ME
190
deepwater currents that travel all the way around the world.
HA
ing
UT
SO
FACT FILE Howling winds
rri f y
Area: 13,514,000 sq miles
Powerful winds blow from west to east
(35,000,000 sq km)
over the Southern Ocean throughout
se
Antarctica. These winds were a big help Islands
Ri
Weddell and Ross seas to ocean trade in the days of sailing ships,
le
driving them around the globe. So
Chi
u
Pa t
c
he c
Ba
as
ifi in
t Menard Fractu
s
ern O
▲ FLOATING ICE
re Zon
c
East Pacifi
The floating tip of a giant glacier towers
th
above the fractured pack ice in the Ross Sea.
Rise
u
e
So
OCEAN
d
shelves and glaciers. The rest freezes over in Modern sailboats use powerful Southern Ocean
winter, to become seas of drifting pack ice. winds to race around the world.
aro
Rich waters
s d
e e
18
g e
Rid
a lvis
W AF
Cape Basin RI
CA
Mid-At
Discovery
Tablemount Cape Rise
AT L A N T I C an Agulhas qu
e
bi
l
tic Plateau m
za ge Natal
OCEAN Ri
dg Agulhas Mo Rid Basin
e Basin
Atlantic-In
South dia
n Ridge
Mi
Edward
U Ri est
SO
ia Islands t e
ot l N Crozet eau t
d –
Maud
Sc e a el Rise
dg
S d En d Islands e
Falkland ed in e rb Crozet
ia
ot
India
Islands Sc idg la yP
e
W Basin
R P lai
Weddell n
e
n Ridge
Sea
ag
u
ass
tea
Ronne Ice Kerguelen
Filchner
Shelf Island
Pla
e P
Ice Shelf
Larsen
Berkner
len
Ice Shelf
Drak
ue
McDonald
Amery Islands
rg
Ice Shelf INDIAN
Ke
Bellingshausen
Sea A N TA RC T I C A Davis Sea OCEAN
South Pole
ge
e
Ridg
Rid
Am
Broken
und
ian
sin
Ross
se
Ice Shelf
Ba
nR
nd
Amundsen
id
ian
t I
ge
Sea
d
as
Ross Sea
In
he
a st
he
ut
ut
So
o
Ud
S
Big a s i n
Elt
int
SO N
an
A
se
ht
e
UTH OCE dg
in
li a i a n
ERN Ri
IA
Fra
Fra
India t i c
al
n
n-A ntarc
ctu
ctu
tr
e us t
L
idg
ra
re
re
A
Pacific-Antarctic R s
Rid g e
th Au
A
u
Tasman So reat
R
Zo
Zo
Plateau G
ne
T
arie
ne
Campbell
Tasmania
S
U
cqu
Plateau
Tasman A
Ma
Sout hw e s t Lo
Chatham Rise Basin
Pa c ifi c Ba s in
ui
sv
Lord H
ille
ow
eR
Ri
New ise
dg
Zealand
e
19
BLUE PLANET
BLUE
PLANET
Covering most of the
globe, the oceans contain
BLUE PLANET
97 percent of the world’s
water. They fill vast
rocky basins, which
continually change
shape beneath them.
Planet ocean
Our planet should be called planet ocean, This view of
Earth shows the
because most of its surface is covered by Pacific Ocean
BLUE PLANET
If viewed from space, you would
see most of Earth’s surface covered
by water; less than a third of the
world’s surface is dry land, the rest is
covered by oceans. The ocean water
has a total volume of 319 million
cubic miles (1.3 billion cubic km).
This is more than a thousand times
the volume of land above sea level.
Different types of fish and other sea
creatures can live anywhere within
this mass of water, making it the
biggest habitat on Earth.
yP
chemicals, and it is likely that life on Earth began in
ac i
the oceans, more than 3.5 billion years ago. The oceans
and seas are still ideal habitats for life of all kinds.
f ic
Oc
ean
BLUE PLANET
covers almost half t
School of striped mackerel
GLITTERING VARIETY
The oceans of the world include
a huge variety of habitats. They
he
FRONTIER ZONE
For centuries, the oceans have been used as trade routes
and as a rich source of food and minerals. But they are
also incredibly dangerous, and this is one reason why
the deep oceans are still largely unexplored. Amazingly,
we know more about the surface of the Moon than we
do about the deep ocean floor.
How oceans LAYERED EARTH
Rocky
mantle Thin outer
crust
formed Metal
core
MOVING PLATES
Nuclear energy deep inside the Peridotite
planet keeps the rocky mantle very FLOATING ROCK
hot. High pressure stops the rock The mantle is made of a very
from melting, but the heat makes it heavy rock called peridotite.
soft enough to flow in currents that A slightly lighter rock called basalt
rise very slowly, flow sideways near forms the oceanic crust—the bedrock
the surface, then sink. As the mantle of the ocean floors. The continents
rock flows sideways, it drags the are made of granite and similar
brittle crust with it. This breaks rocks, which are even lighter than Basalt
the crust into many separate, moving basalt. This enables the continents to
plates, which carry the continents. float on the heavy mantle, like ice
New ocean floor forms where these on water, and is one reason why the
plates are pulling apart. continents rise above the ocean floors. Granite
24
WATER VAPOR
Most of the water on the planet
probably erupted from huge volcanoes
early in Earth’s history. Volcanoes still
produce a lot of water vapor, as well as
other gases. A similar mixture would
have formed Earth’s first atmosphere.
The water vapor turned into clouds
that spilled torrential rain on the bare
rocky surface of Earth’s crust, flooding
it to form the first oceans.
BLUE PLANET
WOW!
Some ocean water may
have arrived on Earth in
the form of icy comets that
melted as they plunged
through the planet’s
atmosphere.
enough to swallow
stretch for many thousands of miles across the ocean some of the
floors, forming the longest mountain ranges on the tallest mountains
planet. Until very recently, we had no idea that many on Earth.
of these features existed, or why they were there.
UNDERWATER WORLD
As methods of measuring depth have
improved, scientists have been able to
detect more features of the ocean floor.
This section through a typical ocean
shows the most important features,
along with images that were gathered
using the most advanced technology.
Color-coded for depth, they reveal
a hidden world beneath the waves.
▲ CONTINENTAL SHELF ▲ OCEAN RIDGE
The shallow regions at the fringes of Made using echo-sounding technology,
Continent, fringed oceans are the continental shelves. At this image shows part of the long
by the shallow the edge of the shelf, the continental ridges (red) that snake across the ocean
continental shelf slope descends to the deep ocean floor. floors. Forming a network that extends
This image shows the shallow shelf around the globe, these ridges can
in red, and the ocean floor in blue. be up to 3,300 ft (1,000 m) high.
Submerged seamount
28
SEEING THE OCEAN FLOOR
The first complete map of the
ocean floor was created in the
mid-20th century by American
geologists Bruce Heezen and
Marie Tharp, using simple depth
measurements gathered from all
over the world. As the map took
shape, it revealed a pattern of
ocean-floor features that were
BLUE PLANET
unknown to science. It inspired
both its makers and other scientists
▲ SOFT SEDIMENTS to discover more about how these
Vast areas of the deep ocean floors are features had been formed.
covered with thick layers of soft mud
and ooze, forming flat abyssal plains. ▶ HEEZENTHARP MAP
Some of these soft sediments are the This graphic representation of
remains of tiny sea life. Others are the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the
made of rock particles blown over the Atlantic Ocean floor is part of the
ocean by desert storms, such as this map that astounded the world.
Saharan dust storm seen from space.
Volcanic island
Magma beneath
an active volcano
Mid-ocean ridges
The rock beneath Earth’s crust is as hot as
molten volcanic lava, but it is kept solid by
intense pressure. When plates of ocean crust
are pulled apart, rifts open up and reduce
the pressure, allowing the hot rock to melt
BLUE PLANET
Seawater seeps
down through cracks
Heated water erupts
Molten rock from black smokers
erupts at rift
30
BLACK SMOKERS
Ocean water seeping into the rift WINDING RIDGES
zone is heated by contact with the The mid-ocean ridges, along with their
hot rock, but high pressure stops it black smokers and underwater volcanoes,
from boiling. It gets hotter and hotter, form a network that extends through all
reaching 750°F (400°C)—four times the oceans of the world. They form the
higher than its normal boiling point. divergent boundaries where the giant
The very hot water dissolves chemicals plates of Earth’s crust are moving apart.
in the rock, and eventually this Convergent boundaries mark where the
chemical-rich water is forced back plates are pushing together.
up into the ocean. When it hits the
BLUE PLANET
cold ocean water, the chemicals
NORTH ASIA
form dark particles that look like AMERICA
EUROPE
smoke billowing from the rift,
AFRICA
so these plumes are known as SOUTH
AMERICA AUSTRALIA
black smokers.
ANTARCTICA
Superheated
Hot rock water
HOW TRENCHES ARE FORMED
Deep ocean trenches lie above subduction
zones, where part of the ocean floor is bending
The deepest
depths
down to pass beneath another plate of Earth’s
crust. The steepest wall of the ocean trench
is formed by the edge of the upper plate.
Mountains Heavy oceanic crust
pushed up by forced beneath
colliding plates continental crust In some parts of the ocean floor, titanic forces
within the planet are pulling the plates of Earth’s
BLUE PLANET
MARIANA TRENCH
Even though ocean trenches are partly filled
with sand and muddy ooze, they can be
three times as deep as the nearby ocean
floor. The lowest point of the Mariana
Trench in the Pacific lies 36,070 ft
(10,994 m) below the ocean surface.
It is the deepest chasm on the planet,
deep enough to swallow Earth’s highest
mountain, Mount Everest in the
Himalayas—and its peak would still Japan
be more than 6,560 ft (2,000 m)
underwater. The subduction
process not only formed this Mariana Islands
trench, it also created an arc Mariana Trench
of volcanic islands.
▶ CRESCENTSHAPED
This image of the western Pacific
shows the Mariana Trench as a dark
line curving around the Mariana
Islands. It is linked to other trenches
extending north past Japan.
32
PACIFIC TRENCHES
All the world’s ocean floors have deep trenches formed by the
subduction process, but the deepest of them are found in and around
the Pacific. This diagram shows how far below the surface they lie.
Even the Kuril Trench to the north of Japan is deeper than the height
of Mount Everest, which soars to 29,029 ft (8,848 m) above sea level.
DEEP DIVE
In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh
BLUE PLANET
20,000 ft
(6,000 m)
descended to the bottom of the Mariana
Trench in the submersible Trieste. Their
23,000 ft tiny crew capsule was suspended from
Izu-Ogasawara
(7,000 m) a huge gasoline-filled float, weighed
Philippine
Kermadec
Mariana
26,000 ft
Kuril
(8,000 m) them 4 hours and 48 minutes, and this
is still the deepest dive ever made.
30,000 ft
(9,000 m) Gasoline-filled float Entrance
hatch
33,000 ft
(10,000 m)
36,000 ft
(11,000 m) Trieste
◀ CHALLENGER DEEP
This illustration shows a section of
the Mariana Trench. The deepest
part of the trench is called the
Challenger Deep.
Challenger Deep is
near the southern
end of the trench
33
Grinding plates
The process that forms deep ocean trenches also creates long
chains of volcanic islands. It pushes up mountain ranges on
the fringes of nearby continents, and causes devastating
earthquakes and tsunamis. Most of these volcanic
subduction zones lie around the edge of the Pacific Ocean,
BLUE PLANET
▲ ERUPTION
Krakatau volcano near Java lies above one
of the world’s most active subduction zones.
Mount Fitz Roy, southern Andes
MELTDOWN
In a subduction zone, a plate of FOLDED CONTINENTS
ocean crust plunges beneath the edge Where ocean floor is being dragged
of another plate and into the hot beneath the edge of a continent,
mantle. As it does so, some of the the friction buckles the continental
rock melts in the intense heat. This fringe into mountain ranges. The
is because ocean water carried down Andes on the western side of South
with the rock makes it melt more America were formed like this, and
easily. The molten magma bubbles are dotted with volcanoes erupting
up through the margin of the upper from the zone of melting rock deep
plate, erupting as volcanoes. below the continent.
34
ASIA NORTH
AMERICA EUROPE
AFRICA
SOUTH
BLUE PLANET
AMERICA
AUSTRALIA
RING OF FIRE
Most of the planet’s subduction zones lie on the edges
of the giant Pacific Ocean. They have created a ring of
deep ocean trenches around the Pacific, fringed by a chain
of more than 450 volcanoes—the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The relentless movement of the plates is gradually
destroying the fringes of the ocean floor, shrinking the
Pacific Ocean by 1 sq mile (2.5 sq km) a year. It also
triggers up to 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes.
DANGER ZONES
The subduction zones, where one plate of Earth’s
crust is grinding beneath another, are notorious for
causing earthquakes. Japan lies in one of these regions.
As a result, it suffers more than a thousand earth
tremors each year, and every few years a really big
earthquake causes massive destruction and loss of life.
35
CREATION AND DESTRUCTION
New ocean floor is created in the spreading rifts of mid-ocean ridges
and eventually destroyed in the subduction zones beneath ocean
Evolving
oceans
trenches. These changes happen at different rates in each of the
world’s oceans, which are constantly growing and shrinking in size.
Island arc Mid-ocean Ocean trench
New ocean ridge
floor forming
Old ocean As fast as new ocean floor is created in
floor
sinking some parts of the world, old ocean floor
BLUE PLANET
PANTHALASSIC
OCEAN
PANGAEA
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
As oceans expand and contract, they push continents
apart or draw them together. Over the 4.5 billion years
of Earth’s existence, this has changed the map of the
world many times. Until about 100 million years
Single continent
ago, the continents would have been unrecognizable. of Pangaea
It was only toward the end of the Mesozoic age of
▲ 250 MILLION YEARS AGO
dinosaurs, about 66 million years ago, that the At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs, 250 million years ago,
world as we know it began to form. all the land had been pushed together into a vast supercontinent.
36
NORTH
EARTHQUAKE ZONES
AMERICA EUROPE ASIA
The relentless movements of Earth’s crust that reshape oceans and
move continents also trigger countless earthquakes. Many are felt
AFRICA
on land, and sometimes have catastrophic effects. But many more
SOUTH occur beneath the oceans, in the regions where ocean floors are
AMERICA
AUSTRALIA being created at mid-ocean ridges, or destroyed in subduction
zones. As a result, the locations of these earthquakes form lines
that follow the network of ocean-floor ridges and trenches.
KEY 144 89 54.8 24 1.8
BLUE PLANET
Ocean floor age Undated
(millions of years) 154 127 65 33.5 5 0
RECYCLED ROCK
Scientists have sampled the rocks of the ocean floors
and measured their age. The data shows that the
youngest rocks are at the mid-ocean ridges (shaded in
red), and that they get older the further they are from
the ridge. This proves that the rocks are forming at the
ridges and gradually moving away from them. Some ▲ TREMBLING EARTH
The red dots on this map mark the sites of all the earthquakes
of the oldest ocean-floor rocks are being dragged into detected over the last 50 years. The mid-ocean earthquakes form
the subduction zones beneath deep ocean trenches, a pattern that matches that of the youngest ocean-floor rocks.
where they are melted and recycled.
North America
has an inland sea
NORTH
AMERICA
AFRICA
PACIFIC
OCEAN
GONDWANA SOUTH
AMERICA
SOUTH AFRICA
AMERICA
ANTARCTICA
37
WHY TSUNAMIS HAPPEN
The biggest recent tsunamis have occurred in
places where one plate of ocean floor is slipping
beneath another, as shown below. The plates
Tsunamis
became locked together, then suddenly gave way, Every few years, a big earthquake on the ocean
triggering oceanic earthquakes. But tsunamis can floor causes a massive rock movement that is
also be caused by volcanic eruptions, coastal
landslides, and even collapsing ice shelves. transferred to the water and generates giant
Locked section Upper plate waves, known as tsunamis. Out on the open
ocean, the waves are broad and low, covering
BLUE PLANET
Sumatra
INDIA
Pacific Ocean
AFRICA
Slow distortion
▲ 2. DISTORT AUSTRALIA
Eventually, the moving lower plate bends the edge
of the upper plate downward.
38
WOW!
The 2011 Japanese
tsunami raised the sea level
by 30 ft (9 m) at Miyako
in northeast Japan,
and sent waves 6 miles
(10 km) inland.
BLUE PLANET
LANDFALL ▲ TSUNAMI SURGE
The relentlessly rising
When a tsunami reaches shallower
water of the 2011
water, the wave shortens and steepens. Japanese tsunami
This creates a very high but broad surges over the sea
Japan Trench
wave peak and an equally deep trough. wall at Miyako. Eurasian Plate
The trough usually reaches the coast Earthquake
first, making the sea draw back like a JAPAN epicenter
very low tide. But this is soon followed Tokyo Pacific Plate
by the tsunami peak, which surges
ashore and floods the landscape.
moving slowly over extra-hot parts of the mantle called Iceland is a vast mass of basalt lava that
has erupted from a hotspot lying below the
hotspots. Each hotspot creates a volcano in the moving Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The plates of the crust
crust. Once the volcano moves off the hotspot, it becomes are moving apart beneath the island, causing
the eruption of many volcanoes and geysers.
extinct, and a new volcano erupts in its place. Over
BLUE PLANET
Hawaii
Longest island chain
VOLCANIC CHAINS
A hotspot beneath the crust heats the rock so that it expands and it stops erupting. As the rock beneath it cools and contracts, the island
rises. Some rock melts and erupts as basalt lava, forming a volcanic sinks and eventually becomes a submerged seamount. Some hotspots
island. When plate movement carries the volcano off the hotspot, have created hundreds of these volcanic islands and seamounts.
A A B A B C
40
Ascension Island Easter Island
Dormant volcanoes Triple peak
BLUE PLANET
may be in the future. Its surface is peppered the ocean floor slipping west over a hotspot
with volcanic craters such as the one shown near Easter Island, but the volcanoes on
here, but its volcanoes are dormant. the island itself are now extinct.
Galápagos
Mobile islands
WOW!
In the Scandinavian
COASTAL EROSION Arctic, the continental
The edges of continents are eaten away by the shelf extends most
sea waves in a relentless process that turns solid of the way to the
rock into the shingle and sand that form beaches. North Pole.
This coastal erosion creates the shallow seabed of
the continental shelf. It is made of the same solid
bedrock as the land, covered with sedimentary rock.
44
SHALLOW SEABED
The seabed of the continental shelf has an average depth of
490 ft (150 m). The deepest point offshore, at the shelf break,
usually lies about 660 ft (200 m) below the waves. The shelf
has a very shallow gradient, and is mostly covered with soft
sand and mud. A lot of this is the result of coastal erosion,
but some of the sand and mud is swept into the sea by rivers.
It is mixed with the remains of microscopic marine plankton.
BLUE PLANET
REEFS AND SANDBANKS
The soft seabed is dotted with rocky reefs, and in
places the currents create shallow banks of sand and
gravel. These hidden shallows have always been hazards
for ships, especially in the days before there were accurate
charts or ways of measuring ocean depth. As a result, the
seabed of the continental shelf is littered with shipwrecks.
Continental shelf
Continental slope
Submarine
canyon cuts
through edge of Channel across the
continental shelf deep ocean floor
Submarine canyon
Sediment flows
off land into the
canyon system
Turbidity
current flows
down through
submarine Deep-sea fan
canyon created at base of
continental slope
Turbidity current
45
BLUE PLANET
RISING ROCKS
SINKING SEAS
ANCIENT OCEANS During the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, so
We know that many rocks once lay beneath the sea because much rainwater turned into snow and ice that global sea levels
they contain fossil seashells and fish skeletons. Such fossils fell by about 400 ft (120 m). This exposed vast areas of the
have even been found in limestone rocks at the top of continental shelves, which were home to people and land animals
Mount Everest, more than 28,200 ft (8,600 m) above sea such as mammoths. Today, their remains lie under the sea.
level. The fossils show that the rocks were formed on the
bed of a shallow tropical sea 400 million years ago.
▶ MAMMOTH TOOTH
Fossils of mammoth teeth have been
found by fishermen off the Atlantic coast.
New York
Washington, D.C.
◀ DRY LAND
NORTH
AMERICA
The red dotted lines
mark the Atlantic
coastlines of ice-age
Atlantic Ocean
America 22,000 years
Miami ago, when mammoths
▲ FOSSILIZED AMMONITES roamed on what is now
These shells are the remains of sea creatures related to the continental shelf.
living squid. They are often found in rocks on land. The pale blue areas are
now shallow seas.
46
BOUNCING BACK
When many parts of the northern Heavy Hot, soft mantle Crust Mantle rock
continents were covered by thick ice sheet rock pushed aside slowly rises flows back
ice, the weight of ice pressed down
on the Earth’s crust, pushing aside the
softer mantle rock below. When the ice
melted, the crust started rising, but
slowly. As a result, shores that were
once beaches are now high above
sea level, and are still rising.
Ice weighs down the land Ice melts and land rises
BLUE PLANET
WOW!
FLOODED VALLEYS
As the ice age ended and the ice sheets melted, all the
meltwater flowed into the sea, raising global sea levels.
By 6,000 years ago, seas had reached the same level as today, Many northern shores
drowning many landscapes that had formed during the ice are rising by 3 ft (1 m)
age. For example, deep valleys that had once contained
a century. Ports used by the
icy glaciers were flooded to create steep-sided fjords.
Vikings 1,000 years ago
▼ GEIRANGERFJORD
are now 33 ft (10 m)
During the ice age, this flooded fjord on the above sea level.
coast of Norway lay high above sea level.
Hydrogen
Some water
seeps into the ground
and flows to the sea
BLUE PLANET
salt. This is why seawater tastes salty.
CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
As well as the minerals that make
it salty, ocean water also contains
other dissolved substances, including
carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus,
calcium, and iron. These are essential
ingredients of complex molecules
such as proteins, which are vital to
life in all its forms. This makes ocean
water an ideal habitat—fossil evidence
suggests that the first life on Earth
developed in the oceans. The seas
and oceans are still teeming with
an incredible array of animals.
BLUE WATER
Even in shallow seawater, everything looks blue
or blue-green. This is because all the other colors
in sunlight have been absorbed by the water.
Light, heat,
Red light is absorbed first, followed by yellow,
green, and violet, until only blue is left. Any light
reflected up through the water has also lost these
colors, which is why the sea usually looks blue.
and sound
Water absorbs light and heat. This means
that neither can penetrate far into the ocean
BLUE PLANET
OCEAN TEMPERATURES
The Sun shines straight down on the KEY
tropics, warming the surface waters 90°F
of tropical oceans to temperatures of 30°C
up to 86°F (30°C). But in the polar
regions, the Sun is lower in the sky 70°F
20°C
and less powerful, even in summer.
In winter there is so little warm 50°F 10°C
sunlight that the seas freeze over.
But warm currents flowing toward
the poles stop the sea from getting even 0°C
30°F
colder, and cold currents flowing away
from polar seas help to cool the tropics.
50
OCEANS AND CONTINENTS
Ocean water never gets as hot or cold
as the land, because it gains and loses
heat so slowly. This affects the climate
on islands and coastal regions, making
it milder than the climate at the heart
of a continent. So even in summer,
people living on an island never get
as hot as people living in the middle
of a nearby continent, and they never
get as cold in winter either.
BLUE PLANET
▼ MARITIME CLIMATE
▲ HUMPBACK WHALE
The surrounding Pacific Ocean
gives the islands of New Zealand These whales communicate by “singing” to
a mild, moist climate. each other. This consists of a sequence of howls,
moans, and cries, which can last for hours.
SPEEDY SOUND
The speed of sound in water is
more than four times faster than the
speed of sound in air. This enables
marine animals such as whales to call
to each other over incredible distances.
In some parts of the ocean, sound
transmission is so efficient that a whale
call generated on one side of an ocean
can be picked up on the other side,
up to 15,500 miles (25,000 km) away.
Southern
tropical airflow Southern temperate
swerves west airflow swerves east
▶ SOUTHERN OCEAN
BLUE PLANET
In the far south, where there are no
continents to hamper airflow, the strong
westerlies are called the Roaring Forties.
CALM ZONES
Between the tropical trade wind
zones and the westerly wind belts lie
calm zones where there is very little
wind from any direction. Similar calm
regions, called the doldrums, occur near
the equator. These windless zones were
a serious problem in the days of sailing
ships with no engines. Ships could be
trapped in doldrums for weeks, and
often ran out of food and fresh water.
53
Oceanic storms
Although open oceans are swept by winds from one direction
most of the time, they are also affected by local weather
systems that change the wind pattern, and often bring heavy
rain. These weather systems are generated by warm, moist air
rising off the oceans. They form zones of circulating air called
BLUE PLANET
STORM CLOUDS
Warm air rising from sun-warmed oceans
carries a lot of invisible water vapor with it.
As it rises, the air cools. This makes some
of the vapor turn back into the tiny water
droplets that form clouds. Where a lot of
warm, moist air is rising, this process builds
up giant storm clouds that contain a huge
weight of water. Eventually, the water
spills out of them as heavy rain.
SWIRLING CYCLONES
As warm air rises, it reduces the weight of air
at sea level, creating a zone of low air pressure.
Surrounding air swirls into the low-pressure zone
to replace the rising air. The faster the warm air
rises and the lower the pressure, the faster more
air moves in, causing strong winds. These weather
systems are called cyclones or depressions. They
swirl counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere,
and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Air swirls into the
low-pressure zone
Rising warm air
reduces pressure
Low pressure
FRONTAL STORMS
In the temperate regions just north and south
of the tropics, warm tropical air is pushed up by
cold polar air at an invisible boundary called the
polar front. This helps generate cyclones over cool
oceans such as the north Atlantic. The cyclones are
swept east by westerly winds, and sometimes cause
powerful storms like this one lashing a town on
the Atlantic coast of Britain.
BLUE PLANET
HURRICANES
Huge cyclones form over tropical
oceans, where intense heat causes the
build-up of colossal clouds around
a zone of very low air pressure.
Air swirling into the low-pressure
zone at high speed starts the clouds
spinning, creating a tropical revolving
hurricane. These storms, the most
violent on Earth, are also known as
typhoons or tropical cyclones.
▲ SPIRALING CLOUDS
This satellite view shows a hurricane going
past Florida. Winds near the center of the
hurricane can reach speeds of 220 mph
(350 kph), causing immense destruction.
STORM SURGES
Extremely low air pressure at the center of a hurricane also
makes the sea rise up like a tsunami wave—an effect called
a storm surge. If the storm moves over land, it drags the
storm surge with it, and if the surge is high enough, it can
swamp coastal defenses and cause catastrophic flooding.
▲ FLOODED CITY
These houses in New Orleans were flooded by a storm surge
swept ashore by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
55
WAVE PATTERN
Waves start out as tiny ripples on the
water, created by wind blowing over
the smooth surface. If the wind keeps
Waves
blowing, the ripples grow and develop
As the wind blows over the ocean, it whips up waves
into a confused wave pattern called a on the surface. The stronger the wind, and the longer
chop, with waves of many different sizes
and shapes. Gradually, this chaotic effect
it blows, the bigger the waves get. They also grow as
becomes more ordered, and eventually they travel, so the biggest waves are the ones that travel
settles into a regular series of large
long distances over vast oceans, especially the Pacific.
BLUE PLANET
▲ RIPPLES
Moving air drags on the surface of the
water to push up ripples. These tiny
waves are less than 1 in (25 mm) high.
MAKING WAVES
Waves are caused by the way the wind
drags on the surface of the ocean. The
wind pushes the wave forward, but
the water within the wave stays where it is.
▲ CHOP
Ripples may eventually turn into a chop— In fact, each drop of water moves in a circle,
a disordered mass of small waves that are rolling forward and then back as the wave
up to 20 in (half a meter) high. passes. This is why objects floating on the
water, such as these ducks, stay in the same
place as the waves roll under them.
▲ SWELL
Over time, waves start rolling across the
ocean in a regular swell, with wave crests
often towering high above the troughs.
WAVE HEIGHT
The further a wave travels, the bigger it
can get. A gale (strong wind) blowing over
a small lake will create only small waves,
but a wind of the same strength blowing
over an ocean can create waves that are over
33 ft (10 m) high. The biggest waves build
up in the Southern Ocean, where there is
no land to stop them sweeping around
Antarctica, driven by the westerly wind.
BLUE PLANET
▼ ATLANTIC STORM
Howling winds blow spray off
the crests of the giant waves
threatening this fishing boat.
ROGUE WAVES
Out at sea, regular swells can be very high without
being particularly dangerous. But if two swells come
together, they can clash to form colossal rogue waves
more than 66 ft (20 m) high. These also form where
a series of storm waves meet a strong opposing
current. Such waves can wash right over big ships,
and may even sink them.
BREAKERS
As waves approach the shore and move into shallower water,
they become shorter and steeper. This makes each wave more
top-heavy, until finally its crest topples forward in a foaming
mass of water called a breaker. The steeper the shore slopes
up from deep water, the more dramatically the waves break,
hurling water up the beach.
WOW!
Waves get shorter topple over
and steeper in
shallow water
PLUNGING BREAKER
The crests of gigantic waves rolling in
from the Pacific Ocean topple and explode
in spectacular breakers on the beaches of
Hawaii. This wave may have traveled more
than 2,500 miles (4,000 km), growing all the
time, before being swept into shallow water
and brought to this dramatic climax.
Surface currents
The wind that whips up waves also drives powerful
surface currents. The main driving forces are the
winds generated by global airflow and deflected by WOW!
Earth’s spin—the prevailing winds. The spin effect The Gulf Stream in the
north Atlantic transports
also influences the currents themselves, making them
BLUE PLANET
water at a rate of up to
swerve right or left. As a result, they form huge rotating 5.3 billion cubic feet
gyres that swirl around the oceans, carrying cold water (150 million cubic
into the tropics and warm water toward the poles. meters) per second.
Wind
STRANGE EFFECTS
Drag on The spinning Earth effect that
ocean water
makes the wind swerve off-course
Water moves in does the same to ocean currents.
this direction
They veer to the right in the northern
hemisphere, and to the left in the
Drag from
upper layer
southern hemisphere. Moving water
at the surface drags deeper water with
Direction of water
movement in
it, which swerves even further right or
lower layer left. As a result, the current’s direction
changes with depth—a pattern called
Water movement in Ekman transport.
even lower layer
Drag
60
HEAT PUMPS
All the currents near the equator
flow westward, then turn north and
south in western boundary currents
such as the Gulf Stream and Brazil
Current. These carry warm water
to cooler regions, making their
winters milder. Meanwhile,
eastern boundary currents such as
the Humboldt Current and the
Benguela Current carry cool
BLUE PLANET
polar water into the tropics.
▲ TROPICAL GARDENS
The Gulf Stream gives the Scilly Isles in the
north Atlantic a surprisingly warm climate.
VISIBLE FLOW
Where warm and cold currents
meet, the cold water pushes below
the warm water, stirring up minerals
from the sea floor that are vital for
tiny drifting algae called plankton.
This fuels plankton growth, providing
food for fish and other animals.
This effect is most marked in shallow
continental shelf seas, because the
seabed is nearer the surface. Sometimes
the two currents are made visible by
different-colored plankton blooms.
◀ COLORCODED
Seen from space, these plankton blooms mark
where the warm Brazil Current (carrying
the blue plankton) meets the colder Falklands
Current (carrying the green plankton).
61
Sargasso Sea
Near the center of the north Atlantic is a region of
warm, still water called the Sargasso Sea. It lies in the
middle of the surface currents that swirl clockwise
around the ocean to the north of the equator. These
currents push drifting seaweed into the Sargasso Sea,
BLUE PLANET
FLOATING GARDEN
CIRCLING CURRENTS The seaweed that is such a feature
ATLANTIC of the Sargasso Sea is unusual because
NORTH OCEAN it is not attached to rocks, but thrives
AMERICA drifting free on the surface of the deep
ocean. Called sargassum weed, it forms
Sargasso Sea a shallow floating garden in the warm
water just beneath the waves. Some types
have gas-filled bladders on the fronds that
act as floats. This layer of drifting seaweed
Caribbean Sea
is only a few inches deep, but it is a habitat
for several specialized creatures that do not
SOUTH live anywhere else.
AMERICA
Floating Circling ocean
sargassum weed current
EEL NURSERY
The Sargasso Sea is the breeding site for
eels that live in European rivers. Adult eels
migrate down-river and swim across the
ocean to the Sargasso Sea. Here, they lay
their eggs, which hatch as tiny leaf-shaped
young. They drift on the Gulf Stream current
flowing east across the ocean. Eventually,
they reach Europe, by which time they
have turned into tiny transparent eels.
62
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM
Unfortunately, it is not just floating seaweed
that is driven into the Sargasso Sea. The
currents also gather up trash that has been
thrown from ships or carried down rivers
into the ocean. These currents push the
trash into the middle of the Sargasso Sea,
where it forms a floating garbage dump.
BLUE PLANET
RICH SEAS
Deep water drawn up from the
seabed by upwelling contains
dissolved nutrients that act as
fertilizer for the plantlike algae
of the phytoplankton. This causes
▲ ON THE PROWL
vigorous growth, which feeds The rich pickings in an
swarms of tiny animals. These upwelling zone attract
support huge schools of small fish hundreds of big, hungry
hunters, including these
such as anchovy, which attract hammerhead sharks.
bigger fish, sharks, dolphins,
and other oceanic predators.
Upwelling zones
In some parts of the world, the prevailing wind drives
the surface water of the ocean away from the shore.
This forces deeper water to well up from below to take
its place. The water contains chemicals and minerals that
fuel the growth of plankton, providing food for fish.
Similar upwelling effects create food-rich zones over
▲ PLANKTON GROWTH
This satellite image of an upwelling
submerged seamounts and near the equator. But there
zone off the west coast of Africa are also regions where surface water is forced to sink,
shows regions of dense plankton
growth in red and yellow. and this has the opposite result.
64
SEAMOUNTS
The submerged extinct volcanoes known as HOW IT WORKS
seamounts are covered with nutrient-rich The Ekman transport effect can make strong
sediments. Ocean currents flowing over the winds blowing along the coast drag water
seamounts pick up the nutrients and carry away from the shore, creating an upwelling
them to the surface, creating local zone. Wind blowing in the opposite direction
upwelling zones. These isolated hotspots can cause downwelling. The pattern shown
often have their own unique wildlife. would be reversed in the northern hemisphere.
The Ekman transport effect also draws
surface water away from the equator, so
Swirling, Plankton cool, rich water wells up from below.
nutrient-rich water and fish
BLUE PLANET
Water drawn
away from shore West-facing shore in
southern hemisphere
Wind from
south
Upwelling
Seamount
Nutrient-rich
water wells up
from below
Coastal upwelling
West-facing shore in
Wind from southern hemisphere
Deepwater north
current
EL NIÑO
If upwelling stops, it has a big impact on ocean
life. Sometimes the trade winds over the Pacific
weaken, allowing warm surface water to flow east
and smother an upwelling zone off tropical South Surface
Water pushed water sinks
America. Known as the El Niño effect, this stops the toward coast near shore
plankton growth, so the fish vanish—a disaster for
Coastal downwelling
fish-eating birds such as these blue-footed boobies.
Surface water dragged
away from equator by
Ekman transport effect
Trade
wind
65
SINKING WATERS
In the polar regions, cold air and floating ice makes the water
beneath it very cold. This makes the water molecules move closer
Deepwater
currents
together, so the water becomes denser (heavier per liter). Extra
salt expelled from the sea ice as it forms makes this cold water
even denser and heavier, so it sinks toward the ocean floor.
WOW!
The coldest deepwater current is called the Antarctic
▼ ANTARCTIC ICE
Bottom Water, which flows from beneath the ice that Sea ice forming on the
covers the Antarctic Weddell Sea. A similar flow comes Weddell and Ross seas
from the Ross Sea on the other side of Antarctica. close to the South Pole
makes cold, salty ocean
The origin and history
In the north, sinking water near Greenland propels of each drop of ocean
water even colder and
the North Atlantic Deep Water, which flows south saltier, driving powerful
to help drive a deepwater current around the globe. deepwater currents.
water can be worked
out by analyzing its
chemical nature.
66
Warm Atlantic Gulf Cold, salty water sinks Deep water rises to
Stream flows north in the north Atlantic the surface and flows
across the equator
North Atlantic
Deep Water
flows south
BLUE PLANET
Antarctic Bottom
Deepwater current
Water flows east
flows north into
the Pacific
OCEAN
THE OPEN
The oceans are the
SUNLIT ZONE
The top 660 ft (200 m) are often
called the sunlit zone. Here the Sunlit zone
0–660 ft
water is lit up with enough sunlight (0–200 m)
to support the plantlike plankton
that need light to live and multiply.
Bluefin tuna
Since these are the main source of
food in the oceans, this is where
most marine animals live.
TWILIGHT ZONE
Below 660 ft (200 m) there is not
enough light to support the organisms Lantern fish
that rely on it for energy. The only Twilight zone
light filtering down from the surface is 660–3,300 ft
a faint blue glow, so this part of the (200–1,000 m)
ocean is called the twilight zone.
Animals live here, but far fewer
than in the sunlit zone.
DARK ZONE
Below 3,300 ft (1,000 m) there is
no light at all, aside from the eerie
glow produced by some deep-sea
animals in this dark zone. Since the Viperfish
oceans are, on average, four times Dark zone
as deep as this—and often much Below 3,300 ft
(1,000 m)
deeper—most of the world’s ocean
water is in total darkness.
70
THERMOCLINE
KEY North
Tropical oceans are warm at the surface, America
90°F Permanently
reaching 86°F (30°C). But the temperature 30°C South cold water
falls rapidly with depth to 39°F (4°C) in 70°F America near Arctic
the twilight zone, and almost freezing in 20°C Permanently warm
surface water in
the dark zone. In the tropics the warm
50°F 10°C tropical Atlantic
surface water rarely mixes with the colder
water below it, and the boundary between Permanently
0°C
30°F cold water in
the two is called the thermocline. dark zone
Hatchetfish
Vampire
squid
▲ SPECIALLY ADAPTED
Ocean water contains a lot of oxygen,
which is vital to animal life. The colder the
Deep-sea squid water, the more oxygen it has. But deep in
the twilight zone, there is a region where
most of the oxygen has been used up by
bacteria feeding on dead plankton sinking
from above. The only animals that can
survive in this region are specially adapted
Red shrimp creatures like this vampire squid.
71
Orange
Yellow
Green
Sunlit zone
Violet
Blue
Red
Depth
0
VITAL LIGHT
The plantlike organisms that live
in the sunlit zone use the energy
of light to make sugar compounds,
which they turn into living tissue
that can be eaten by animals. Most
of these organisms are microscopic
WOW!
algae and special forms of bacteria
that drift as phytoplankton in the
open sea. But they also include
the much bigger algae that we call Photosynthesis in the
seaweeds. Most of these seaweeds oceans not only makes
and the seagrass live attached to the food. It also releases
seabed in shallow coastal water. about 90 percent of
the oxygen in the air
▶ GREEN GLOW
The light glowing through these that we breathe.
seaweed fronds provides the essential
energy that the seaweed needs to grow.
72
PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUNLIT DRIFTERS
Seaweeds as well as seagrass and Like seaweeds, the tiny drifting
phytoplankton make food by converting organisms of the phytoplankton can
carbon dioxide and water into oxygen live only in the upper, sunlit zone of
and sugar. This process is called the ocean, where there is enough light
photosynthesis. It happens inside for them to make sugar. But unlike
microscopic structures called seaweeds, they all consist of just one
chloroplasts. These contain a green living cell. They range from very simple
substance called chlorophyll that bacteria to complex single-celled algae,
can absorb solar energy. The energy including diatoms, dinoflagellates,
BLOOMING OCEANS
Although the individual organisms
that make up phytoplankton are only
microscopic, they can form dense
blooms near the ocean surface that are
sometimes visible from space. These
▲ SUGAR FACTORIES usually develop where the sea is rich
The fronds of big seaweeds are made in minerals, drawn up from deeper
up of millions of microscopic cells linked water by ocean currents. The diatoms
together like bricks in a wall. Each cell
contains many green chloroplasts that and other organisms absorb these
use light to make sugar compounds. minerals and use them to make their
skeletons. They also combine them
with sugar compounds to make other
substances vital to their survival.
LIVING LIGHT
Since phytoplankton are too small
to be seen without a microscope,
we normally see the organisms as a
cloudiness in the water. The richer
the sea, the more phytoplankton it
can support, and the cloudier it is.
But some of these drifting organisms,
such as certain types of dinoflagellate,
can glow with a blue-green chemical
light when they are disturbed. This
creates dazzling effects at night,
as seen on this tropical shore.
73
Zooplankton
The tiny drifting algae that form the phytoplankton
are eaten by swarms of small animals and other
organisms that cannot make their own food by
photosynthesis. These organisms are known as
THE OPEN OCEAN
PROTOZOANS
The smallest types of zooplankton
have bodies made up of a single
cell—unlike true animals, which
have many cells. But they feed
on other living things in the
same way as animals, so they are
sometimes called protozoans
(meaning “near animals”).
They include these radiolarians,
which gather food using their
long flexible spines.
WOW!
COPEPODS
Zooplankton animals are much bigger
than protozoans, but many of them are
still very small. The most numerous
and widespread of these animals are
So many Antarctic krill
copepods. These tiny crustaceans— live in the Southern Ocean
relatives of shrimp and crabs—hang that their total weight is
in the water supported by their greater than that of the
enormously long antennae, which act human population
like parachutes. They eat microscopic of the world.
single-celled algae and protozoans.
74
◀ TEEMING KRILL KRILL SWARMS
This krill swarm off the
Shrimplike krill are a lot larger than
Pacific coast of California
has attracted a school copepods. They live in all the world’s
of hungry fish. oceans, but are most abundant in
the cold Southern Ocean where they
form vast swarms that turn the ocean
red. Like copepods, they feed on
microscopic life, but are in turn
preyed upon by Antarctic whales,
as well as many fish and penguins.
STINGING TENTACLES
Many jellyfish live among the plankton. As they drift with
the current, they swim by contracting their circular bodies
to push water behind them and drive themselves along.
They trail long, almost invisible tentacles armed with
microscopic stinging cells, snaring and paralyzing
other animals, which they can then reel in and eat.
Some are giants—more than 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
FLOATING KILLER
The notoriously venomous
Portuguese man-of-war may look
like a jellyfish, but it is made up of a
collection of animals that live together.
Each has a specific job: one is the ▶ LION’S MANE
float with a sail that makes it drift in JELLYFISH
One of the biggest jellyfish,
the wind, while others gather food, this oceanic drifter can have
produce young, or defend the colony. venomous tentacles more
than 98 ft (30 m) long.
76
SWIMMING SLUG
Despite its deadly sting, the Portuguese
man-of-war is preyed upon by another
animal that also lives among the plankton—
the blue sea slug. Unlike most sea slugs, it
swims in open water, attacking and eating
other animals. Amazingly, the blue sea slug
recycles the stinging cells of its venomous
prey and uses them for its own defense.
GLITTERING JELLIES
Although they look like jellyfish, the comb jellies are very
different. Their name refers to the shimmering rows of
mobile “combs” along their bodies. By flicking these back
and forth, the animals push themselves through the
water. Some have long tentacles for snaring prey.
DRIFTING CHAINS
Even stranger than the comb jellies
are the drifting chains of salps that
filter the water for phytoplankton.
These tubular, transparent creatures are
open-water relatives of the sea squirts
that live attached to rocks. For part
of their lifecycle, salps live alone, but
breed by producing long chains of
identical, cloned animals that drift in
the sunlit zone of the ocean. Eventually,
each member of the chain produces
another generation of solitary salps.
77
The food chain
In the ocean, nearly all life depends on the food made EAT AND BE EATEN
Seaweeds and phytoplankton make
by seaweeds and the microscopic drifting algae called complex living tissue out of simple
phytoplankton. They use the energy of sunlight to build chemicals—they are food producers.
But animals cannot make their own
living tissue. Tiny animals eat this and turn it into muscle, food; they survive by eating this
THE OPEN OCEAN
skin, and other animal tissue. Most of these animals are living (or dead) tissue, so they are
eaten by other animals, which use the food to build their food consumers. Animals that eat
the algae are primary consumers,
own bodies. They are eaten by even bigger animals, in while the larger animals that prey
a food chain that leads to top predators such as sharks. on the primary consumers are
secondary consumers. These are
eaten by even bigger hunters, which
fall prey to powerful top predators.
A polar bear
FOOD PYRAMIDS eats dozens of
FAST FACTS This diagram shows that it takes seals per year
78
THE OPEN OCEAN
▲ BIG MOUTHFUL SHORT CUTS
A school of small fish try to escape the gaping
Some big oceanic animals short-cut
jaws of a hungry Bryde’s whale. It could easily
swallow the entire school in one mouthful. the food chain by targeting very
small animals. They include giant
filter-feeding whales, which eat
small fish and shrimplike krill
instead of hunting bigger prey
such as tuna. The whales get to eat
more this way, because the smaller
animals lower down the food chain
are much more numerous than the
tuna, and easier to catch. This is
one reason why these whales—
and other giant filter feeders like
the manta ray—can grow so big.
79
Hungry schools FILTER FEEDERS
A fish “breathes” by gathering oxygen
from the water, which flows into its mouth
and through oxygen-absorbing gills at the
The swarms of small animals that form the back of its head. Plankton-feeding fish use
zooplankton are preyed upon by fish such as their gill rakers to strain the water for prey
as they swim through plankton swarms
anchovy, sardine, and herring. They swim in schools with their mouths wide open. The trapped
of thousands of fish, all moving together as if they prey is concentrated in the back of the
THE OPEN OCEAN
SAFETY IN NUMBERS
Fish that live in open water near
the surface can often find plenty to
eat, but they are in serious danger
of being eaten themselves. Big fish Water flows in through Gill flap
can take the risk, but smaller ones the fish’s mouth, then
out through the gills
like these herrings swim in large
schools. If attacked, a fast-moving,
swirling school is a confusing target
for a predator such as a shark or
tuna; it is harder to isolate and
catch a single fish.
SLEEK ENEMIES
Small plankton-eating fish are
attacked by other schooling fish
such as these mackerel, which
seize them and swallow them
whole. Mackerel in particular have
highly streamlined bodies for fast
swimming, and streak through the
oceans at speed in search of big
schools of prey fish. They also
catch smaller prey by swimming
with their mouths open to filter
animals from the water.
80
WOW!
Before they were affected
by overfishing, some
schools of Atlantic herring
contained a billion fish or
more, and were 1 mile
▼ COLORCODED CLUES
The vivid yellow tails of these fusiliers flash
instant signals to the rest of the school, enabling
all the fish to switch direction at the same time.
TUNA PACKS
Tuna travel in schools that mount
concerted attacks on smaller schooling
fish. They are fast, powerful hunters,
reaching speeds of up to 47 mph
(75 kph). Some can grow to amazing
sizes—the Atlantic bluefin tuna can
reach 15 ft (4.6 m). But overfishing
has made some species rare, and the
Atlantic bluefin may be threatened
THE OPEN OCEAN
with extinction.
Tall, narrow
Streamlined tail fin
body
Gill flap
82
OCEAN RACERS
While tuna hunt in packs, the big predators, known
as billfish, hunt alone. These include marlins, sailfish,
and swordfish. They all have long, bony, sharp-pointed
upper jaws, or bills. Like tuna, they are built for speed,
but many are even faster. The sailfish folds away its big
sail-like dorsal fin when it is swimming fast. It travels
huge distances through the ocean in search of prey.
◀ SAILFISH
Swordlike bill
pierces water as fish
rockets after its prey
FEEDING FRENZY
When this oceanic hunter runs into a school of
fish, it accelerates to strike at high speed, giving
its victims little chance of escape. Tuna launch a
mass attack, snapping at anything that moves.
Prey fish often try to hide behind each other to
avoid being picked out, forming a tightly packed,
swirling mass. They may even try to get away by
bursting up through the ocean surface.
◀ HERRING PREY
Herded together by the frenzied attack
of a school of hungry tuna, herrings leap
into the air in a desperate bid to escape.
83
THE OPEN OCEAN
THE OPEN OCEAN
BAIT BALL
Targeted by a roving pod of common dolphins,
a large school of blue jack mackerel bunch
together in a swirling mass of glittering
silver—a bait ball. By reacting like this, the
fish aim to confuse their enemies and make
it harder for them to pick out a victim, but
these dolphins are not put off so easily.
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
Sharks have lived in the world’s oceans for more
than 400 million years. Today, there are more than
470 different species. Many are fast, streamlined
Sharks
open-water hunters, but other sharks have strange
The most notorious oceanic hunters are the
adaptations that equip them for life on the seabed, predatory sharks with their terrifyingly sharp
or in the dark, cold depths of the deep ocean.
teeth. In fact, not all sharks are like this. Some
are lazy shellfish feeders, and others eat only
THE OPEN OCEAN
▲ THRESHER SHARK
The upper lobe of the thresher’s tail is as long as
its body. It uses it like a whip to stun its prey.
▲ WOBBEGONG
This ambush killer lies on the seabed, relying
on its camouflage to hide from its prey.
WOW!
A great white shark has
300 teeth, and since
they are always being
replaced, it may get ▲ GREAT WHITE SHARK
86
TOP PREDATOR
The deadliest sharks are powerful hunters that prey
on big fish, seals, and other large animals. They are
built for speed, especially the great white shark—
the biggest and most efficient hunter of
them all. Armed with large jaws and
a combination of highly tuned senses
for detecting and targeting its
prey, the great white is in
a class of its own.
SPRINGY SKELETONS
Pale underside The skeleton of a shark is not made Backbone (spine)
makes the shark Gill supports consists of a long, flexible
hard to see from of bone, but springy cartilage—the
chain of cartilage
below, enabling it same material that supports your
to sneak up on prey ears. The skeleton doesn’t need to
be very strong because the shark’s
weight is supported by the water.
Its main job is to anchor the shark’s Skull
powerful body muscles. Pectoral fin has the
strongest skeleton
87
Filter-feeding giants
The biggest fish in the sea are not sharp-toothed hunters, but placid,
slow-moving animals that feed by straining plankton-rich seawater
for food. They use the same filter-feeding system as schooling fish
such as herring and anchovy, allowing the water to flow through
THE OPEN OCEAN
BASKING SHARK
Three of the giant filter feeders are
sharks—the basking shark, whale shark,
and megamouth shark. The basking
shark feeds in cool oceans, which are
often cloudy with plankton. When
feeding, it swims with its mouth wide
open so the plankton-rich water flows
through the mesh of gill rakers. These
trap the food, while the water flows
out through the huge gill slits at the
back of the shark’s head.
RECORD BREAKER
The basking shark is a giant fish that can grow to an
enormous 26 ft (8 m) long, but it is dwarfed by the whale
shark. This tropical plankton feeder may be up to 46 ft ▲ WHALE SHARK
(14 m) long. Like the basking shark, the whale shark catches A diver swims alongside the
its food by straining water through its gill rakers, but it does colossal but harmless whale
shark. This fish travels huge
this by actively taking a mouthful of water, closing its mouth, distances across warm oceans
and forcing the water out through its gills. in search of plankton-rich waters.
88
Huge mouth for gulping
large amounts of tiny prey
WOW!
sh in the ocean.
comes up to the surface only at night.
It follows the movements of the tiny
Each whale shark can zooplankton, which also migrate
be identified from its to the surface at night and go back
unique pattern of
white spots and stripes into the depths by day. Luminous
organs around the shark’s big mouth
may attract its prey in the darkness.
fi
Winglike pectoral
fins beat up and
gest
down as it swims
Two long lobes help
channel plankton
big
ark
s h
hale
hew
T Gill slits
GIANT RAY
With its huge pectoral wings and two hornlike
lobes, the manta ray is also known as the devil
fish. It is the biggest of the rays, spanning
up to 23 ft (7 m) from tip to tip of its big
pectoral fins. The manta ray uses these like
wings to “fly” through warm oceans in search ▲ FLYING FILTER FEEDER
of plankton. It feeds like a basking shark, This view of a feeding manta
ray from below shows how its
swimming with its mouth open so food-rich big gill slits gape open as the
water flows through its gills. water flows through them.
89
Baleen whales
The biggest animals in the oceans are the baleen whales,
which include the largest animal that has ever lived—
the colossal blue whale. They are called baleen whales
because, instead of teeth, they have fine comblike plates
THE OPEN OCEAN
Bowhead whale
BALEEN PLATES Arctic specialist
A whale’s baleen plates are made of Length Up to 66 ft (20 m)
keratin—the same material as your hair Weight Up to 110 tons (100 metric tons)
and fingernails. The plates form long, Habitat or range Arctic
bristly combs attached to each side of
the upper jaw, and they hang down so Named for its upwardly arched jaw,
they fill the gap between the whale’s the bowhead specializes in gathering
upper and lower jaw when its mouth tiny copepods from the icy waters of the
is open. When feeding, the whale uses Arctic Ocean and nearby cold seas. Unlike
various techniques to fill its mouth with other baleen whales, it feeds by swimming
water and force it out through the plates. with its mouth open. This forces water in
These then trap any small prey such as at the front of its jaws, and out through
copepods, krill, and small fish. the very long baleen plates at the side.
Gray whale
Seafloor feeder
Length Up to 49 ft (15 m)
Weight Up to 40 tons (36 metric tons)
Habitat or range Coastal north Pacific
Uniquely for a baleen whale, the gray
whale feeds on animals that it gathers
from the seabed. It does this by swimming
along the bottom on its side to plow up
soft mud. The whale draws this into its
mouth, then pumps it out through
its baleen to trap prey.
90
Humpback whale
Lunge feeder
Length Up to 62 ft (19 m)
Weight Up to 44 tons (40 metric tons)
Habitat or range Worldwide
Given its name for the way it arches its
back before diving, the humpback has
longer flippers than other whales, and
a snout that is covered with bumps
Blue whale
Streamlined giant
91
THE OPEN OCEAN
THE OPEN OCEAN
LUNGEFEEDING WHALES
Hunting off the coast of Alaska, these
humpback whales have worked together to herd
small fish into a tightly packed school. The
whales surge up from below the fish with their
huge jaws gaping wide open. They swallow
hundreds of fish in each gigantic mouthful,
while hungry birds seize the scraps.
Toothed whales WHALE TEETH
Unlike the teeth of most mammals,
whale teeth are simple conical pegs,
and dolphins
similar to those of crocodiles. They are
good for grabbing prey such as fish, but
not for cutting it up or chewing it. Some
whales have more than 100 teeth, others
hardly any. The biggest teeth belong to
Most of the world’s whales are not filter-feeding baleen the sperm whale, shown below, weighing
THE OPEN OCEAN
SLEEK HUNTERS
The most well-known toothed
whales are dolphins. These sleek,
powerful, high-speed hunters are
sociable and intelligent animals.
They travel in large groups,
and work together to round
up schools of fish and squid.
Dolphins are known for the wide
variety of sounds they make,
including clicks, whistles, and
squeaks, which they use to stay
in touch while hunting. Each
dolphin also has its own special
whistle, which acts as its name,
and is used by other dolphins
to attract its attention.
WOW!
Scientists have taught
some dolphins a form
of sign language,
allowing the scientists
and dolphins to talk
to each other.
94
ECHOLOCATION
Clicks produced Melon makes
Dolphins and other toothed whales locate by dolphin
Blowhole
clicks more intense
their prey by emitting loud clicks that echo Nasal sacs
off the target. The returning echoes create Prey
a “sound image” of the prey’s location.
The dolphin’s clicks are generated in nasal
sacs near its blowhole (nostril), and focused
by an organ in its forehead called the melon.
The echoes are picked up by nerves in its
TOOTHED GIANT
Most toothed whales are much
smaller than the average baleen whale,
but the sperm whale is a giant. It can
grow up to 66 ft (20 m) long, and has
a huge box-shaped head that is mostly
filled with a waxy substance called
spermaceti. This seems to help the
whale adjust its buoyancy, allowing
it to dive to incredible depths.
◀ SPERM WHALE
A hunting sperm whale may dive 2 miles
(3 km) below the waves in search of prey.
It can stay underwater for more than an
hour before surfacing to breathe.
Wingspan Up to 12 ft (3.6 m)
Range Southern oceans; North Pacific
Hunting technique Surface feeding
The biggest, most spectacular ocean
birds are the albatrosses of southern
oceans, with their enormously long
wings. They have special adaptations
THE OPEN OCEAN
Ocean birds
Some birds spend nearly all their lives out on the Gannets and boobies
High divers
open ocean. The only reason they return to land
Wingspan Up to 6 ft (1.8 m)
is to find somewhere to nest, because they have to
Range All tropical oceans; North Atlantic
lay their eggs on solid ground. At sea they eat fish, Hunting technique Plunge diving
squid, krill, and other sea creatures, and have evolved The most dramatic feeding technique has
been perfected by gannets and boobies, such
a variety of techniques for catching them. These range as this tropical blue-footed booby. They target
from snatching prey while flying over the surface to fish from the air, and hurtle down to slice
into the water at high speed with their wings
plummeting into the sea and even “flying” underwater. swept back like arrowheads. The birds’ vital
organs are cushioned from the impact by
air sacs under the skin. Once underwater,
they seize their prey in their long, sharp
Cormorants bills before bursting back up into the air.
Coastal hunters
Wingspan Up to 5 ft (1.5 m)
Range Coastal seas worldwide
Hunting technique Underwater pursuit
These coastal fish-eaters are specialized for
hunting underwater, where they use their
big webbed feet to drive themselves along.
A cormorant’s feathers absorb more water
than those of most seabirds. This makes it
less buoyant, helping it to stay submerged.
As the bird gets very wet, it often has to
hold its wings outspread to dry them off.
96
Auks
Underwater fliers
▶ FOOD SNATCHER
This frigatebird is forcing
a tern to cough up the
fish it has just caught.
Petrels
Tiny but tough
FATAL ATTRACTION
The small animals that live in the twilight zone by day are
hunted by other animals such as this firefly squid. Covered
in hundreds of special light-producing organs, it is likely
that the firefly squid uses these to attract its prey within
range of its long, sucker-covered feeding tentacles.
98
HIDDEN BY LIGHT
The hatchetfish has rows of glowing
photophores on its belly. Amazingly,
these help to hide the fish from its
enemies, by emitting a blue light that
matches the glow from the surface. This
eliminates the dark silhouette that would
make the fish easy to see from below.
TRAILING PREDATORS
eyes that face upward. This enables it If the hatchetfish lived in the dark zone, the
photophores would show up like beacons.
to detect any small fish above it that are
silhouetted against the dim blue light
filtering down from the ocean surface.
Each evening, the hatchetfish trails its
prey up from the depths, sinking back
into the twilight zone during the day. ▲ MATCHING GLOW
Seen against the blue glow from the surface,
the photophores hide the fish’s silhouette
to the point where it is almost invisible.
WOW!
A lot of twilight-zone
animals use glowing lights
to flash messages at each
other in the dark. It’s the
only way they can
keep in touch.
99
Dark zone
Three thousand three hundred feet (1,000 m) below
the ocean surface, the faint blue glow of the twilight
zone fades out completely. Here, the only light is
made by animals equipped with luminous organs of
THE OPEN OCEAN
Sharp, curved
teeth stop prey
from escaping
Light organs
are located
beneath the eyes
SEARCHLIGHT
Some predators, such as the stoplight
loosejaw fish, have red searchlights
for targeting their prey in the dark.
Since most deep-sea animals cannot
see red light, they do not know they
are being stalked until it is too late.
The red searchlights are most ▲ RED PRAWN
To escape from the spotlight Luminous
effective at revealing red-colored loosejaw fish, a deep-sea red fluid
animals that would be invisible if lit prawn releases luminous
up by the blue light produced by fluid to confuse its enemy.
other deep-sea animals. Long, needle-sharp
teeth give the fish
a deadly grip
100
HUGE APPETITE
Prey is very hard to find in the dark zone, Broad, earlike fins
are used to swim
so predators must be able to eat almost through the water
anything they run into. The amazing gulper
eel is one of the most specialized creatures.
It has a huge mouth with specially adapted
jawbones that allow it to swallow a victim
as big as itself. The eel also has an elastic
stomach that can expand to hold its
outsized meals. The rest of its body has
Tiny eyes on
tip of snout
Sucker-covered arms
are used to seize prey
▲ GULPER EEL
Since they live at such JELLYFISH AND OCTOPODS
depths, very few gulper As well as fish, the open water of the dark
eels have been seen alive. zone is home to many other mysterious animals.
This is a preserved specimen. They include luminous jellyfish, deep-sea squid,
and relatives of octopuses called finned octopods.
Double-hinged jaw One of these, the small Dumbo octopod, hovers
WOW!
enables mouth to above the ocean floor at incredible depths of
open incredibly wide
up to 13,000 ft (4,000 m). Its big eyes enable
it to see luminous prey.
The giant squid
has the biggest eyes of any
known animal. They are
up to 11 in (27 cm) TITANIC BATTLES
across—bigger than Most dark-zone animals have small bodies so they can survive
soccer balls. without having to eat a lot. But a few are colossal. They include
the giant squid, which can grow up to 43 ft (13 m) long. It is
preyed on by the even more gigantic sperm whale, and defends
itself with sharp-toothed suckers on its arms. The squid uses these
to rip at the whale’s skin, and many sperm whales show the scars.
Giant squid
43 ft ( 13 m)
101
Ocean floor life
The deep ocean floor is a permanently dark, numbingly cold world.
It is like a barren desert, with vast featureless plains covered with soft
mud and ooze. Much of this is made up of the remains of dead
plankton. This provides food for many animals that are specialized
THE OPEN OCEAN
for collecting and eating it. There are also a lot of scavengers that
feed on dead animals that have sunk to the ocean floor.
SOFT OOZE
The solid bedrock of the ocean floor is hard,
dark basalt, but this is usually hidden by deep
layers of soft sediment. Near the continents,
a lot of this is sand and mud carried off the
land by rivers or the wind. But in the open
ocean, most of the sediment is the remains of
tiny drifting organisms called plankton, which
sink through the water and settle as soft ooze.
OOZE PROCESSORS
The organic ooze contains fragments
of food that can be eaten by specialized
animals called detritivores. They include
deepwater sea cucumbers that suck up
the ooze, and digest any edible material
in the same way that earthworms process
soil. These animals can be surprisingly
colorful, although the red skin of this sea
cucumber would look like the deepest
black in the darkness of the ocean floor.
SCAVENGERS
Few animals that live near the surface of the ocean visit
the ocean floor. But when they die, their remains sink
slowly through the water and, if they are not eaten
first, may eventually reach the bottom. They
attract a variety of scavengers, including ◀ CHIMAERA
rat-tailed grenadier fish and relatives Sometimes called
of sharks called chimaeras. The spookfish, chimaeras
prey on live animals
remains are finished up by as well as scavenge
shrimplike amphipods. meat from dead ones.
102
SIFTING THE WATER
Some animals sit in one place on the ocean floor
and sift the water for drifting food particles. These
creatures include sea pens and relatives of starfish
called feather stars and basket stars. They attach
themselves to the soft seabed, and use their
feathery arms to gather anything edible carried
past them by the deepwater currents.
103
Life on
HOT CHEMICALS
The plumes of volcanically heated
water that pour from black smokers
are full of chemicals dissolved from
black smokers
hot rocks below the ocean floor.
Microscopic archaea combine some
of the chemicals with oxygen, and
this releases the energy the microbes
need to make sugar. These archaea use
the sugar to build living cells, which
The black smokers that boil up from mid-ocean ridges are
THE OPEN OCEAN
provide food for other marine life. the deep-sea equivalents of coral reefs—hotspots of teeming
life amid the barren wastes of the deep ocean. Some
extraordinary animals survive here because they have a
source of food that does not rely on the energy of sunlight.
Instead, the ecosystem is based on chemical energy from
the black smokers themselves. Microbes called archaea use
this energy to grow and multiply, and in turn feed colonies
of animals including shrimp, clams, and giant worms.
SWARMING SHRIMP
▲ FOOD FACTORY The archaea living around the
Thick mats of pale archaea smother the warm black smokers are grazed by swarms
rock around an erupting black smoker. of animals that vary according to
where they live. These white shrimp
live on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and
similar white crabs live around black
smokers in the Pacific Ocean. The
shrimp and crabs appear to be blind,
but some have eyelike organs that
may help them locate their food.
104
FAST FACTS
■ The superheated water erupting from
black smokers can have a temperature
of 662°F (350°C), but it billows into water
that is close to freezing.
■ The smokelike effect is caused by
GIANT WORMS
The most spectacular animals
living around black smokers and
similar volcanic vents are giant
tube worms, which can be up to
6 ft (1.8 m) long. The worms form
dense colonies around the vents, where
they can absorb the chemically rich
water. They supply these chemicals
to colonies of microbes living in their
bodies, and the worms absorb some of
the food made by the microbes. This is
similar to the system used by the clams
and mussels. It allows the worms to
grow amazingly quickly, reaching
full size in just a few months.
▼ RED PLUMES
Each worm lives in a thin-walled
white tube. It has a plume of bright
red feathery gills that it uses to
absorb oxygen and vital chemicals.
SHALLOW SEAS
SEAS
SHALLOW
The warm, sunlit
SHALLOW SEAS
shallow seas that
fringe continents and
islands are teeming
with marine life—from
luxuriant kelp forests
to colorful coral reefs.
SUNLIT SEAS
The ocean sunlit zone is confined to the Continent Sunlit zone
top 660 ft (200 m). Since continental shelf
seas average 490 ft (150 m) deep, their
entire depth lies within the sunlit zone—
the region where most marine animals
Continental shelf
live. In the deep oceans, most of the water
is too dark to support the organisms that Continental slope
need the energy of light to make food,
Continental Deep ocean
so fewer animals can live there. rise floor
SHALLOW SEAS
Fertile waters
Shallow coastal seas are much richer in marine
life than the deep oceans. This is partly because
the water contains more of the nutrients needed
by the tiny plantlike organisms that drift in the
WOW!
water, called phytoplankton. Light also filters all
the way down through the shallow water to the
seabed, fueling the growth of phytoplankton Just seven percent of the
and providing food for animal life at all depths. total ocean area is made
up of shallow shelf seas,
but most of the world’s
marine life lives
in them.
MINERAL RICHES
Plantlike seaweeds and
phytoplankton do not only need
light. They need mineral nutrients
that they can turn into living
tissue—the basic food source for all
other marine life. In coastal seas,
rivers flowing off the land deliver
plenty of these mineral nutrients.
Other vital minerals are dissolved
from coastal rocks by the waves.
◀ VITAL MINERALS
A satellite view of the mouth of China’s
Yellow River shows how minerals carried
by the river turn the sea itself yellow.
108
STORM POWER
Minerals that settle on the seabed
are not far from the surface, and
mix easily with the surface waters.
This happens mainly during storms
that stir up the water, scouring mud
off the seabed so it billows up into
the sunlit water above. Here, it
provides phytoplankton with the
nutrients it needs to grow, multiply,
and feed other marine life.
SHALLOW SEAS
▲ WHALE SHARK
Filtering the water through its
sievelike gills, this whale shark feeds
on the swarming microscopic life RICH FISHERIES
that makes shallow seas look cloudy.
The flourishing life in coastal seas
TEEMING LIFE supports big schools of fish such as
Phytoplankton multiply fast in herrings, sardines, and anchovies.
shallow coastal seas, where there Since these fish are important
is sunlit water with plenty of sources of human food, it means that
nutrients. The phytoplankton many of the world’s most valuable
can be so dense that it makes fisheries are found in shallow coastal
the water look green and cloudy. waters. Until recently, there was
It looks like pollution, but it is no point in fishing the deep ocean,
a sign that the water is teeming but overfishing in shallower seas
with microscopic life. has made many coastal fish scarce.
109
The seabed
Unlike the deep ocean floor, the seabeds of shallow
coastal seas are lit up and warmed by sunlight. This
allows many forms of life to flourish in large numbers,
especially in shallower parts of the sea where the light
level is higher. Different types of seabed give the
SHALLOW SEAS
SHIPWRECKS
Many of the shifting sandbanks and rocky reefs of
coastal seas lie just below the surface. Before the
days of accurate charts and satellite navigation, they
caused many shipwrecks. As a result, shallow seabeds
are littered with the remains of ships, some dating
back more than a thousand years. These wrecks
now provide perfect homes for marine life.
110
SITTING PRETTY
FLAME SHELL The sunlight filtering down
Soft, sandy seabeds are always being to the shallow seabed allows a
stirred up by moving water, making lot of microscopic plankton to
life difficult for many animals. But live in the water. This supports
certain mollusks like this flame shell animals that can survive by sitting
anchor themselves to the sand with in one place on the seabed and
strong threads, binding the sand simply filtering the water for food.
together in a tough mat. The mat They include mussels and other
allows other animals to settle and mollusks such as clams, flowerlike
sea anemones, and worms that live
SHALLOW SEAS
form reefs that teem with sea life.
in tubes and spread crowns of
tentacles to gather food.
◀ PEACOCK WORM
The feathery tentacles of this tubeworm
act like a sieve, straining the water for
tiny drifting animals and other food.
WOW!
In some shallow seas,
old ships have been
deliberately sunk to form
artificial reefs where fish
and other marine
animals can live.
SEAL BANQUET
Seals and sea lions hunt in the sea, but
must return to the surface to breathe.
Shallow coastal seas are ideal for them,
because they can easily dive down to
the seabed to look for the rich variety
of prey that lives there, then come back
up for air. In deeper waters, seals and
sea lions often cannot reach the bottom,
and have to use a lot more energy
hunting fast-moving fish and squid.
111
Seaweeds
Most of the food produced in the oceans
is made by tiny phytoplankton that drift
in open water. These microscopic algae
have much bigger relatives that live in
shallow, sunlit water. These are algae too,
SHALLOW SEAS
Leaflike frond
MARINE ALGAE
Seaweeds are multi-celled marine relatives of the tiny
single-celled algae that form much of the phytoplankton.
They are both protists—living things that are neither
animals nor plants. But like plants, they are able to
absorb solar energy and use it to make sugar from water
and carbon dioxide, a process called photosynthesis.
Soft, flexible
stem cannot
support itself
BUOYED UP
Since seaweeds need sunlight, they must grow near
the water surface. Some float in the ocean, but most
Buoyant float
(air bladder) holds are attached to rocks on shallow seabeds and their flexible
the stem upright stems and leaflike fronds are buoyed up by the water.
Many seaweeds have gas-filled floats to make sure the
light-gathering fronds lie as near to the surface as possible.
TIDAL SURVIVAL SEAWEED GRAZERS
Seaweeds need water to make Seaweeds provide food for a variety
the sugar that fuels their growth. of sea creatures, including small
They soak it up over their entire crabs, sea urchins, limpets, and
surface instead of through roots several types of fish. Many tropical
and veins, like plants. This works parrotfish specialize in grazing the
only if they are underwater, but seaweed that grows on coral reefs,
many seaweeds that grow in using their strong teeth to scrape it
coastal waters are tough enough from the soft rock. This helps stop
to survive a few hours of seaweeds from smothering the coral.
exposure on the shore at low
SHALLOW SEAS
◀ PARROTFISH
tide. They can dry out under
The teeth of parrotfish are fused into a strong
the hot sunshine, but soon “beak” that can crunch through coral rock
recover as the tide rises and to get at the small seaweeds growing on it.
submerges them.
TYPES OF SEAWEED
There are three types of seaweed: brown, green,
and red. The difference is not just their color—they
are not related, and have very different structures.
Most brown seaweeds are big, tough wracks and
kelps, while green seaweeds include delicate forms
like sea lettuce. The red ones include coralline
seaweeds that help build coral reefs.
▶ KELP CANOPY
Buoyed up by gas-filled floats, giant kelp
fronds off the coast of California grow
straight up toward the sunlight.
STRONG ANCHOR
The kelp attaches itself to rocks on the seabed by a
clawlike structure called a holdfast. Although the holdfast
may look like the roots of a plant, it does not absorb
nutrients in the same way. Its main function is to anchor
the kelp to the seabed, so that it is not swept away by the
current. The kelp holdfasts are often covered with sponges,
WOW!
barnacles, mussels, and other animals.
114
SEA URCHINS
The main enemies of giant kelp
are sea urchins, especially a species
known as the purple sea urchin.
These spiny relatives of starfish
have tough teeth on their undersides
that they use to nibble away at
the kelp fronds and devour them.
They often attack the kelp in
swarms, and if they get the chance,
a big swarm of sea urchins can
SHALLOW SEAS
destroy large areas of kelp forest.
◀ PRICKLY PROBLEM
This gang of hungry sea urchins will
soon chew through the tough kelp stalks.
URCHIN HUNTERS
Luckily for the kelp forest, sea urchins
are the favorite prey of the sea otters
that hunt in these waters. The otters
dive to the seabed to find the urchins,
and bring them back up to the surface.
They use stones to smash open the
urchins so they can feast on the soft
flesh inside, avoiding the sharp spines.
GIANT OCTOPUS
One of the biggest animals that lives
among the kelp is the Pacific giant
octopus, which has arms that can
span up to 14 ft (4.3 m). It preys
on fish and shellfish such as crabs,
▼ SHARK SNACK
lobsters, and clams. Like all octopuses,
A dead shark on the seabed makes an easy
it is very intelligent, with a good meal for this giant octopus. Like many
memory and sharp senses. hunters, the octopus is a scavenger too.
115
SHALLOW SEAS
SEA OTTER
In the cold water of the north Pacific, sea
otters are kept warm by their extremely thick
fur. It holds a layer of air that makes the sea
otters very buoyant, so they can rest and even
sleep by floating on their backs. The otters
wrap kelp fronds around their bodies to stop
themselves being swept away by the current.
SHALLOW SEAS
Seafloor fish AMBUSH KILLERS
Some predatory fish lie half-buried on the
seabed, waiting for other fish to swim close
enough to catch. An anglerfish tempts prey
An amazing variety of fish live on or near shallow within range using a wriggling lure, like a
coastal seabeds. Many are specialized for seabed worm dangling over its enormous mouth.
life, with heavy bodies that weigh them down Stargazers have eyes on the tops of their
heads for targeting victims, which they
so they can lie on the bottom. They are often dart up to and seize with their sharp teeth.
flattened and so well camouflaged that they are
SHALLOW SEAS
▲ MARBLED STARGAZER
Also known as the pop-eyed fish, the venomous
stargazer lies in wait with just its eyes and
upward-facing mouth showing above the sand.
TOUCH SENSITIVE
Soft seabeds are home to a variety of
burrowing animals, including small crabs
and marine worms. Although they are hidden
from sight, some fish such as gurnards are
able to find them. These fish have specially
adapted pectoral fins with sensitive fingerlike
fin rays that can feel for prey buried in the
sand as they swim slowly over the bottom.
▲ RED GURNARD
Sensitive fin rays beneath its
head allow this north Atlantic
hunter to locate hidden prey. ROCKY REFUGES
On rocky seabeds, many bottom-dwelling
fish take refuge in rock crevices and gaps
between boulders. These offer small fish
protection from their enemies, but they also
make perfect hideouts for ambush predators.
Some fish such as moray eels may spend
most of their lives in one rocky refuge,
leaving it only to snatch passing prey.
◀ MORAY EELS
These powerful hunters have very
sharp teeth for seizing and holding
on to slippery, struggling prey.
REMARKABLE FLATFISH
A flatfish such as a flounder starts life like a
normal fish, but gradually changes shape so
it can lie on its side on the seabed. Its eyes
shift around its head so they are both on the
same side, and its mouth twists, too. Its upper
side is often superbly camouflaged.
SHALLOW SEAS
◀ SPOTTED EAGLE RAY
▲ FLOUNDER
Two eagle rays glide over a
Found in oceans throughout the world, flatfish
rocky seabed searching for
such as this flounder are unique for having
prey. Like many rays, they
both eyes on the same side of their head.
have stings in their tails.
WINGED RAYS
While flatfish are flattened from side to side so they can
lie on the seabed, rays are flattened from top to bottom.
They are relatives of sharks, and swim by using their
broad pectoral fins like wings. Most of them hunt on
the seabed, and many have broad, strong teeth for
crushing the shells of crabs and clams.
WOW!
The torpedo ray hunts
with electricity. It can
generate a 200-volt
electric shock—enough
to kill a small
fish instantly.
Sea snails STOMACH CRAWLERS
Sea snails seem to crawl on their stomachs,
just like garden snails and slugs, and because
and clams
of this they are called gastropods, which means
“stomach foot.” Some use their rasping tongues
to graze on algae, but others such as the bubble
snail are active hunters that attack and eat prey,
The shallow seabed is teeming with including marine worms.
UNIQUE SHELL
Many sea snails have decorative shells.
But one of the most spectacular and
unique shells belongs to the tropical
Venus comb, which is covered with
needlelike spines that may help
protect it from its enemies. It hunts
other mollusks, sniffing them out
with its long, tubular snout.
FILTER FEEDERS
Aside from gastropods, the other
main group of marine mollusks
are bivalves—clams, mussels,
and scallops. These have two
hinged shells, and live by
filtering edible particles from
water that they draw through
their bodies. Most live in one
place, buried in soft seabeds
or attached to rocks.
◀ FAN MUSSEL
This big fan-shaped bivalve can be
up to 47 in (120 cm) high. It lives
in the Mediterranean Sea, with its
pointed end buried in the seabed.
120
INSIDE THE SHELL
Gastropods and bivalves share Gill Shell hinge
some of the same body structures, Shell closing
Spiral shell Sensory Digestive muscle
but they are modified for different tentacles system
uses. For example, both may have Digestive
a strong muscular foot, but a system Gill
gastropod uses it for crawling Muscular Muscular
while a burrowing bivalve uses it foot foot
Mouth Siphon
to pull itself down into the sand.
▲ GASTROPOD ▲ BIVALVE
However, bivalves differ greatly A sea snail lives like a land snail, A typical bivalve sucks water
SHALLOW SEAS
in that their bodies have no head, crawling around and gathering into its body through a siphon
brain, or obvious sensory organs. food with its mouth. tube, and filters it for food.
121
SHELLED NAUTILUS
Unlike other cephalopods, the nautilus
has a coiled snail-like shell. The shell
contains gas that makes it buoyant,
enabling the nautilus to rise and sink in
the water like a submarine. Nautiluses
are found in the Indian and Pacific
oceans, where they prey on other
animals and scavenge the remains of
dead ones. Nautiluses have lived in the
oceans for about 500 million years—
SHALLOW SEAS
Squid, octopus,
JETPROPELLED SQUID
Unlike their cuttlefish and octopus
relatives, most squid live in open water
and travel in big schools. They are very
and cuttlefish
streamlined, and able to streak through
the water at high speed by blasting
water out of their siphon tubes—a
form of jet propulsion. Some may even
shoot out of the water into the air.
Most marine mollusks are simple animals; many
seem to have only basic senses. But squid and their
relatives—the cephalopods—are different. They
are calculating, sharp-eyed hunters, with excellent
memories. They have long, flexible arms and
tentacles, and some amazing adaptations for
hunting, swimming, defense, and communication.
▲ LOWSPEED OPTION
To swim at slower speeds, this common
COLORFUL CUTTLEFISH ▼ SECRET WEAPON squid ripples the fins at the back of its body.
This common cuttlefish shoots
Cuttlefish live in shallow coastal
out its tentacles at lightning
waters where they swim slowly over speed to seize a crab.
the seabed looking for crabs, shrimp,
and other prey to catch with their long
tentacles. Like many cephalopods,
they have an amazing ability to change
color—switching in a split second
from camouflage to dazzling zebra
stripes, and even flashing in moving
waves of color like neon signs.
122
CRABKILLING OCTOPUS
The most well-known of the cephalopods, octopuses
often live in seabed crevices. They emerge to seek
out prey such as crabs, which they rip apart with
their eight suckered arms. Unlike cuttlefish and
squid, they do not have an extra pair of tentacles.
They are remarkably intelligent and quick to learn.
◀ TOXIC TERROR
Some octopuses kill their prey with a venomous
bite. The venom of the tiny tropical blue-ringed
SHALLOW SEAS
octopus is incredibly toxic and can kill a
human within a few minutes.
INSIDE A CEPHALOPOD
The word cephalopod means “head-limb.” It describes the way
the arms are attached directly to the animal’s head, surrounding
its mouth. The mouth has beaklike jaws and a toothed tongue.
The eight flexible arms are equipped with rows of suckers, and
squid and cuttlefish also have a pair of extendible tentacles.
Eye
Internal Beaklike
shell Digestive jaws Tentacle
system
INKY DEFENSE
Feeling threatened by an approaching diver, a giant
octopus squirts a cloud of dark ink into the water from
its siphon tube. The ink billows out in the water like
Siphon
Mantle Toothed Arm Suckers dense smoke, allowing the octopus to escape as it shoots
cavity Gill tongue backward through the water at high speed. Squid and
cuttlefish also use this same inky defense tactic.
123
SHALLOW SEAS
HATCHING OCTOPUS
No bigger than a grain of rice, this newly
hatched octopus will grow into a giant with
an arm span of up to 14 ft (4.3 m)—a Pacific
giant octopus. Like all cephalopods, this
species lays eggs. A female can lay up to
400,000 eggs, which she attaches to a rock
and takes care of until they hatch.
SHALLOW SEAS
Prawns, lobsters,
and crabs Tail fan can be
Crustaceans are an important group of marine animals that used for swimming
live in all oceans but are very common in shallow coastal
SHALLOW SEAS
HEAVY ARMOR
The external skeleton of some
crustaceans, including lobsters,
crabs, and crayfish, is strengthened
with chalky minerals to form a
thick, very hard armor. This gives
them protection from their enemies.
The exoskeleton’s strength also
allows some of these animals to have
Long antennae
powerful claws for crushing their prey. sense prey in
JOINTED BODIES the dark
Most crustaceans have bodies like this ▶ EUROPEAN LOBSTER
prawn, with a head, a chain of body The heavy shell of this lobster weighs it
segments, and several pairs of legs down, forcing it to live on the seabed where Thinner and more
it hunts animals such as crabs and starfish. flexible chitin
specialized for different jobs. All the forms the joints,
body parts are supported by a hard allowing the lobster
to move its body
outer shell (the exoskeleton) made of
a tough material called chitin, similar
to your fingernails. The rigid segments
are linked by mobile joints.
DRIFTING LARVAE
All crustaceans lay eggs. The eggs Smaller claw
has sharp edges
of crabs, for example, hatch as tiny and is used for
larvae that live in the open ocean. cutting prey
They drift in the plankton, where they
feed alongside small adult crustaceans
such as copepods. Larvae go through
many growth stages, shedding their
skin each time and changing shape. ▲ CRAB LARVA
Crab larvae spread far beyond the home range
Eventually, they change into small of their parents by drifting in the plankton
adults, which settle on the seabed. and then settling in distant seas.
126
WOW!
NEW SKIN
One problem with having a strong When the crab slips out of its old, hard
external skeleton is that it will not stretch shell, it has a soft, stretchy skin that it has
The biggest crustacean as the animal grows. This means that a to pump up to a larger size before it hardens.
on Earth is the Japanese crustacean such as this crab has to keep During this time, the crab has no defenses
giant spider crab, which shedding its shell and growing a new one. and must hide from its enemies.
SHALLOW SEAS
▲ STAGE 1 ▲ STAGE 2
The old shell (orange) splits open at the The crab expands its soft shell by pumping
back, revealing a new, soft shell underneath. water into its body; it takes about three
The crab then climbs out of its old shell. days for the shell to harden.
▶ WHALE
BARNACLES
These crustaceans
spend their entire life
attached to the whale.
Openings in their
shells allow them to
extend their feathery
arms to catch food.
SETTLING DOWN
Barnacles are tiny marine animals that look very different
from other crustaceans. They begin life like drifting crab
larvae, but when they turn into adults, they cement
themselves to hard surfaces. Here, the barnacles grow strong
plates, and spend the rest of their lives sieving the water for
food. Some even attach themselves to the skin of whales.
127
Starfish, sea urchins,
and sea cucumbers
Echinoderms are animals with bodies that are basically star-shaped,
with a mouth in the middle. This five-rayed body plan is obvious in
SHALLOW SEAS
most starfish, but other echinoderms have it, too. They live in oceans
throughout the world, where they prey on other animals, graze on
seaweeds, or feed on the edible debris that settles on the seabed.
SPINY BALLS
The word echinoderm means “hedgehog
skin.” This perfectly describes sea urchins,
which are covered with spines. They
have the same five-rayed body plan as
most starfish, but formed into a ball, like A
an orange with five segments. They have st
long, flexible tube feet that they use for
ar
fis
▲ BODY ARMOR
Slow-moving, sea urchins rely on their spines
to deter predators. The spines often break easily,
embedding themselves in the attacker's skin. a ve es at the end
simple ey of
ea
SEA STARS ch
Most starfish have five arms extending from a
central disc, but some starfish have as many as
arm
50 arms. Like sea urchins, they have flexible tube ▲ VIVID COLOR .
feet, each ending in a tiny sucker. Many starfish feed Many starfish are brightly colored, with
contrasting patterns of spines or plates on
on animals such as oysters, clamping onto their shells their skin. Their bright color helps warn
and pulling them apart to get at the meat inside. predators that they may taste bad.
128
NEW FOR OLD
One of the most amazing things Injured starfish New central
about starfish is the way they can Central with one lost arm disc and arms
grow new body parts if they are disc growing
injured. A starfish can easily grow
a new arm to replace a lost limb.
If the lost limb still has part of the
central disc attached, it will grow
a whole new body. This means
that if one starfish is sliced in two, STARRY SWARMS
SHALLOW SEAS
it can survive, regrow the missing Lost arm turning Brittle stars are slender starfish with
parts, and become two starfish. New arm growing into whole starfish
very flexible arms and small, circular
central discs. They live on the seabed,
where they use their mobile, spiny arms
to crawl over the sand. These colorful
starfish feed on small food particles
SIFTING THE WATER that settle on the bottom. In places
Feather stars are starfish with bodies
where the food supply is plentiful,
that have become adapted to living
they can form dense swarms—there
upside down, firmly attached to
can be as many as 2,000 brittle stars
rocks on the seabed. They feed on
in 3 square feet (1 square meter).
tiny plankton and edible particles
drifting in the water, which they
snare with the tube feet extending
WOW!
from their feathery arms.
MUD SWALLOWERS
Sea cucumbers have elongated
five-sided bodies, with a mouth
and tentacles at one end. They
live on the seabed, where they feed
by swallowing the soft muddy
sediment and digesting any edible
material. If threatened, they squirt
a sticky substance at their attacker.
Jellyfish and anemones
The jellyfish that swim gracefully through the oceans are
part of a group of animals called cnidarians, which also rk .
d a
include sea anemones and corals. These animals look very he
t
different from each other, but they have the same basic body
in
structure, and they are armed with stinging cells, which they
SHALLOW SEAS
w
glo
use to stun prey. They live in all oceans at all depths, but
they are particularly common in shallow coastal seas. c an
g e r
in
GRACEFUL JELLYFISH
Tentacle Mouth
Mouth Bell
Budding
baby
Tentacle
Basal disc
anchors animal Four large feeding
▲ POLYP ▲ MEDUSA arms gather food into
A polyp is a tube of jelly glued An adult jellyfish is a medusa—a the central mouth
to a rock. Some types of polyp free-swimming cnidarian. Most ▲ MAUVE STINGER
multiply by growing smaller jellyfish spend part of their lives This colorful jellyfish lives in all the warm and
polyps from their sides. as polyps, then become medusae. slightly cooler oceans of the world, where it feeds
on other drifting animals. It has a painful sting.
130
Body is made of
springy jelly inside STINGING CELLS
a layer of skin
Jellyfish, anemones, and other cnidarians
Coiled thread
A ring of muscle are armed with tiny stinging cells. Each cell
squeezes the body contains a barbed, venomous harpoon. When Trigger
during swimming it is triggered—usually by touch—the harpoon Before discharge
shoots out and pierces the skin of an enemy or Uncoiled
prey, injecting its venom. Each cell is microscopic, Venom sac Barbs hollow thread
but a single jellyfish may have thousands or even
millions of them on its long stinging tentacles.
The effect of these massed stings on human
SHALLOW SEAS
victims can be incredibly painful, and even lethal. After discharge
TROPICAL KILLER
Also known as sea wasps, box
jellyfish are considered to be
among the deadliest animals in
the ocean. They live in the tropical
coral seas around Australia and
Indonesia. The biggest of these is
only the size of a basketball, but
its tentacles are armed with more
than 30 million stings.
SEA ANEMONES
They may look harmless, but sea
anemones are efficient predators. They
feed by trapping tiny drifting animals and
Small red lumps on
the body are clusters other food particles with their stinging
of stinging cells tentacles. Many, such as these jewel
anemones, look like colorful flowers,
Eight long tentacles
are armed with while others such as the snakelocks
stings to catch prey anemones resemble writhing clusters of
worms. They also vary in size, from about
0.5 in (1.5 cm) to 3 ft (1 m) in diameter.
PERFECT PARTNERS
WOW!
Although sea anemones can catch
and kill prey with their stinging
cells, the clownfish of tropical coral
seas are immune to their venom;
The mauve stinger’s body mucus on the fish’s skin stops it
is only 4 in (10 cm) wide, from being stung. The clownfish live
but its stinging tentacles in partnership with certain species
can trail beneath it of anemone and shelter among their
for more than tentacles, which protects them from
33 ft (10 m). predators. In return, the clownfish
eat the small animals that might
harm the anemones.
131
Corals and coral reefs
Corals are close relatives of sea anemones, and have the same tubular body
form, called a polyp, with a crown of tentacles surrounding a central mouth.
But unlike anemones, many corals form colonies, with each coral connected
to many others. Some of these colonial corals have skeletons of limestone
that build up to form brilliantly colored coral reefs that are
SHALLOW SEAS
CORAL REEFS
Hard corals absorb minerals from
seawater and use them to make Sea fans have
limestone cups that support their soft tough but flexible
spreading branches
bodies. When the corals die, their stony
skeletons survive, and new corals grow
on top of them. Over thousands of years,
this builds up a vast depth of coral rock
capped by many different types of living
coral. These reefs form on tropical coasts
and around islands, especially in the
western Pacific and Indian oceans,
and the Carribbean and Red seas.
▶ CORAL COLONIES
Colonial corals are made up
of individual coral polyps
(seen here in white) linked
to others by tubular stolons,
or branches (red). The polyps
use their stinging tentacles to
gather food, digest it, and
share the nutrients.
▶ VITAL PARTNERSHIP
Clear tropical waters contain very little
edible plankton. But tiny algae (see here
as green specks) living in the tissues of
tropical reef corals can make sugar using
the energy of sunlight. The sugar allows Platelike star coral is
the corals to flourish in the food-poor water. made up of hundreds
This arrangement is known as symbiosis. of small coral polyps Finger coral
132
Seagrass is one of the few true Sea urchins graze on ◀ CORAL ARCHITECTURE
plants that grows in saltwater, algae and tiny creatures Corals come in an incredible
forming dense meadows in found on rocks array of colors, shapes, and
shallow lagoons sizes. Some form rounded
masses, such as this golf ball
coral. Others are treelike
with thin branches. These coral
structures provide the perfect
hiding places for the reef animals.
WOW!
SHALLOW SEAS
The algae living
in tropical reef
corals provide up to
90 percent of the
reef ’s energy.
Red coralline
algae
◀ PARADISE GARDENS
A tropical coral reef is like an oasis
in a marine desert. Food is scarce
in open tropical oceans, but the
reef provides food and shelter
for a dazzling diversity of fish,
turtles, and crabs, as well as
other animals. A quarter of all
known marine species live on
coral reefs, even though the area
covered by the reefs is less than a
hundredth of the total ocean area.
COLDWATER REEFS
Not all coral reefs grow in the sunlit
shallows of the tropics, where the corals
feed on sugar made by algae living in their
tissues. There are also cold-water reefs that
live in deeper, darker water. They survive
because colder oceans contain more
▶ ORANGE plankton than tropical waters, providing
SOFT CORAL the corals with all the food they need.
Many corals on This means the corals do not rely on
cold-water reefs are
soft corals without sugar made by algae living in their tissues,
stony skeletons. so they don’t need to grow in sunlit water.
133
The Great
Barrier Reef
The biggest coral reef in the world is the
Great Barrier Reef, which lies off the coast
SHALLOW SEAS
CORAL COMPLEXITY
Although the reef makes an effective barrier against the
huge waves of the Pacific, it is not a continuous wall of coral.
The reef crests form a complex network of strong coral rock,
enclosing thousands of small, shallow lagoons of clear blue
water with soft beds of white coral sand.
134
Great
Ba
Cairns rri
er
Reef
Brisbane
SHALLOW SEAS
▲ LARGEST LIVING STRUCTURE
The Great Barrier Reef extends along
Australia’s Pacific coast, from the Tropic of
Capricorn near Brisbane to the Torres Strait
between Australia and New Guinea.
BIG BUILDUP
The organisms that created the
reef consist of about 400 different
types of hard corals. They have
been depositing the limestone that
builds up the reef for 15 million
years. But the reef ’s development
has been interrupted many times,
and the current phase of growth
has lasted for 6,000 years.
JAMES COOK
People have been fishing on the Great
Barrier Reef for more than 40,000 years,
FANTASTIC DIVERSITY but it was unknown to science until 1770.
The Great Barrier Reef supports In that year, British explorer Captain James
an amazing diversity of life, with Cook and his crew were sailing up the
more than 1,500 species of fish, coast of Australia in their ship Endeavour
30 species of whales and dolphins, when they discovered the reef by crashing
and at least 5,000 species of into it. The ship nearly sank, and had to
mollusks. Each has its own way be repaired on the beach at what is now
of surviving on the reef, and Cooktown, north of Cairns.
they interact in a web of life that
is one of the richest and most
complex on the planet.
Barracuda
Angelfish Surgeonfish
Dazzling colors Busy schools
136
Sharks Reef stonefish
Top predator Lurking killer
SHALLOW SEAS
but they also swim up the channels between then darts up to seize them in its gaping
the coral and into shallow reef lagoons. mouth. The stonefish is protected from its
▲ TIGER SHARK own enemies by sharp spines on its back
Armed with excellent senses of sight and that inject a powerful, even deadly venom.
smell, the tiger shark is a nocturnal hunter,
Cleaner wrasse attacking anything that comes across its path.
Valet service
Lionfish
Toxic spines
137
Reef
invertebrates
Colorful fish are the most obvious coral reef animals,
but the reefs are alive with other creatures too. Most
SHALLOW SEAS
▲ BARREL SPONGES
Giant barrel sponges are found on the of these are various types of invertebrates (animals
tropical coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea.
They can measure up to 6 ft (1.8 m) across without backbones). They include crustaceans such as
their hollow, barrel-shaped bodies. shrimp and crabs, and echinoderms such as starfish.
LIVE SPONGE Some of the animals look more like plants because
Some of the simplest reef animals
are sponges. They live by pumping they spend their lives rooted to one spot like the corals
water through their spongy body that build the reef. But others roam the reef
walls to filter out tiny food particles.
Their springy, water-holding
searching for food, either scavenging scraps
skeletons are still used today or preying on other animals.
as natural bath sponges.
Flattened
Rotating eyes detect
FILTER FEEDERS antennae sense
the prey’s exact range
the movement
Most of the plantlike animals on for an accurate strike
of nearby prey
the reefs live by filtering small animals
and other food from moving water.
This enables them to survive without
needing to roam over the reefs actively Punching
looking for food. They include the claws are
tunicates, which pump the water folded away
out of sight
through basketlike filters inside their
hollow bodies. Some are solitary
creatures, but most live in colonies
attached to the coral rock.
138
SEA FAN
Some corals do not have stony skeletons, so they do not
help with building the reef. Many of these soft corals
are colonies of tiny, interconnected animals, just like
the reef builders. They include the gorgonians (sea fans),
which form branching colonies of tiny tentacled polyps
that look like flattened trees growing up from the reef.
They grow so that their fans face the current, increasing
the chance of snaring passing food particles.
SHALLOW SEAS
CREEPING KILLER
The crown-of-thorns starfish has
up to 21 arms bristling with long,
sharp, venom-soaked spines. It feeds
on living coral by turning its stomach
inside-out through its central mouth
to drench its prey with toxic digestive
juices. These turn the coral to soup,
which the starfish slowly sucks up.
Sometimes swarms of these starfish
▲ CROWNOFTHORNS
overrun coral reefs, devouring the
This deadly enemy of coral can grow to more
than 12 in (30 cm) across. The starfish shown living corals and leaving behind
here has unusually bright colors. just their dead, stony skeletons.
WOW!
PUNCHING PREDATOR
The colorful mantis shrimp that live on
the reef are fearsome predators. Some
have claws armed with sharp, barbed DEADLY SNAIL
tips that they use to spear passing fish.
The peacock mantis
The tubular snout of a cone
Others have clublike claws that help shrimp has claws that can shell is armed with a venomous
to crack the shells of other shellfish, smash into a victim at a harpoon of incredible power. The
punching into them with such force speed of 50 mph (80 kph)— poison of the bigger species can kill
that the shellfish are killed instantly. the fastest punch a human. The cone uses the venom
of any animal. to attack and kill small fish, which it
then swallows whole. Many of the 600
different species live on tropical coral reefs.
139
SHALLOW SEAS
SHALLOW SEAS
GIANT CLAM
The magnificent giant clam is the biggest mollusk
on Earth, with a huge, furrowed shell that grows
up to 4 ft (1.2 m) long. The shell is lined with
colorful soft tissue that is full of food-making algae,
just like the tissue of reef corals. The algae supply
the clam with most of the nutrients it needs.
Atolls and lagoons
Some tropical seas are dotted with islands surrounded by coral
reefs. Many of the islands are extinct volcanoes that are sinking
below the waves. As they sink, the coral keeps growing, and over
time, the original islands disappear to leave ring-shaped reefs
called atolls, enclosing shallow lagoons. Other atolls have
SHALLOW SEAS
Tahiti
SINKING VOLCANOES High island
When an island volcano stops erupting, Location Polynesia, western Pacific
the rock beneath it cools and shrinks, Type Volcanic island with fringing reef
so the island starts sinking. The coral Total area 403 sq miles (1,045 sq km)
around it grows upward to compensate,
so the fringing reef becomes a barrier reef The island of Tahiti is made up of twin
and eventually a ring of coral—an atoll. volcanic peaks fringed by coral reefs. The
volcanoes are extinct and cooling, but still
Fringing reef grows Active volcano almost as high as when they were active
in shallow water forms island
more than 200,000 years ago. As a result,
the fringing reefs still lie close to the shore.
▲ 1. FRINGING REEF
A tropical volcanic island soon develops
a fringe of living coral near the shore.
142
Maldives
Atolls within atolls
SHALLOW SEAS
from space they look like strings of pearls
floating in the blue ocean. The highest
land is only 8 ft (2.4 m) above sea level.
▼ PERFECT CIRCLE
Lighthouse Reef This jewel-like atoll is one of more than
Great blue hole 1,192 islands forming the Maldives.
Aldabra
Mushroom islands
143
COAST AND SEASHORE
SEASHORE
COAST AND
COAST AND SEASHORE
Pounded by waves
and swept by the tides,
the ocean shores are
violent frontier zones,
where rock is reduced
to rubble and life is a
struggle for survival.
Tides
On most seashores the sea level rises and falls every
day, flooding part of the shore and then exposing
it again. These high and low tides are caused by
COAST AND SEASHORE
▲ MIRROR IMAGE
Earth is also orbiting the Moon very slightly,
and this creates a second tidal bulge on the
side of Earth facing away from the Moon.
Combined
tidal bulges
◀ MAELSTROM
The Maelstrom of Saltstraumen, on the
LOCAL EFFECTS northeast coast of Norway, is one of the world’s
most famous and dangerous tidal races. Twice
Most coasts get two high tides a day.
a day, water surges through the strait at speeds
But some get just one, because the of up to 25 mph (40 kph).
shape of the coastline alters the way
the water flows. This also affects the
height of the tide. On some shores,
water forced into funnel-shaped
bays causes very high tides.
WOW!
A big wave can hit rocks
with a pressure of 7,000 lb
per sq in (500 kg per
sq cm)—like a car-sized
hammer hitting
your finger.
SHIFTING SAND
As moving water carries rock debris
along the shore, it shifts the small, light
particles more easily than the bigger,
heavier ones, and carries them further
from the shore where they fell from the
cliff. This tends to sort the debris into
different sizes, because the water drops
COLLAPSE ▲ ROCKFALL
Undercut by big storm
The battering waves carve away coastal cliffs, and loosen
waves, part of this chalk
big blocks of rock that eventually fall away, undermining
Sand
cliff has fallen on to the
the cliffs above. Over time the rock collapses under its shore. The mound of
own weight, dumping big boulders on the tidal shore rubble will protect the
cliff, but not for long.
below. These absorb most of the force of the waves until
they are broken up too, exposing the cliff to further attacks.
Fine shingle
shore, the waves start tossing it
around. This knocks the corners
off, forming rounded boulders,
shingle, and sand. The turbulent
water sweeps the smaller fragments
away, either suspended in the water
or bounced and rolled over the
seabed, but the large boulders
Shingle
remain where they fell.
SHELTERED BEACHES
On seashores that are sheltered by
projecting headlands, the sea is much
calmer, with smaller waves. Instead of
carving away the shore, the waves build
it up by adding loose stones and sand
Large pebbles
caves
divided by headlands. The headlands shelter the bays, allowing
beaches to build up and protect the softer rock. Meanwhile,
the shape of the coast concentrates the wave energy on the
headlands, creating caves, arches, and stacks.
COAST AND SEASHORE
Hard rock
As ocean waves break on rocky shores, Soft rock
Waves swerve toward
headland
they shatter and crumble the rock, and
sweep the debris away to other shores.
This relentless process creates a range Bay
SHEER DROP
Where high land meets the sea, the rock is cut back
at sea level. This leaves the rock above without any
support so it collapses under its own weight, creating
a cliff. The shape of the cliff varies according to the
type of rock, but the most dramatic sheer cliffs usually SEA CAVES
form in softer rock such as chalk. These chalk cliffs Where hard, strong rock is being undercut by wave
in southern England are known as the Seven Sisters. action, the process can create sea caves at the base
of cliffs. Most of these sea caves are not very deep,
because over time the waves crashing into them
makes their ceilings collapse. But this process can
also create dramatic blowholes, where breaking
waves are forced up through gaps in the cave
roof to form fountains of salty spray.
ROCKY ARCHES ▼ CURVED WONDER
Natural rock arches are rare because
Waves often attack a headland on both sides. They can carve away
the rock usually disintegrates, but some
the rock near sea level to form twin caves that eventually break right arches have lasted for many centuries.
through the headland, creating an arch. Arches can also form when
caves in hard rock layers break through to softer layers beyond.
SEA STACKS
Usually, headlands under attack
from the waves crumble into heaps
of rubble. But in some places,
columns of extra-hard rock survive
as sea stacks. Cut off from the shore,
and with sheer cliff faces on all sides,
these make ideal nesting sites for
seabirds. Over time, most fall into
the sea, leaving behind rocky stumps
that may be submerged at high tide.
151
COAST AND SEASHORE
COAST AND SEASHORE
TWELVE APOSTLES
Pounding waves rolling in from the stormy
Southern Ocean have carved this south
Australian coastline into a complex pattern of
bays, headlands, and sea stacks. The stacks are
called the Twelve Apostles—there are now only
eight, but more will form in the future as the
waves keep battering the rocks.
Rocky shore life
Battered by waves and partly drying out at each low
tide, a rocky shore is a dangerous place for marine life.
But these coastal waters are full of food, so those animals
COAST AND SEASHORE
IMPACT ZONE
Every wave that breaks on a rocky shore picks
up loose pebbles and slams them against the
rocks, and any animals that are in the way
are likely to be crushed. Most of them have
developed a talent for finding safe refuges
in crevices, or have evolved strong armor.
The thick, conical shells of these limpets
are perfectly shaped to deflect the force
of the waves and resist impact.
◀ LIMPETS
These specialized
sea snails cling tightly
to rocks at low tide,
but crawl over the
shore in search of
food when they
are underwater.
CLAMMING UP
Every few hours, the marine life on
tidal shores has to cope with being
exposed to the air at low tide. Many
shellfish cope by closing their shells
or clamping down tightly to the
rocks to stop themselves from drying
out, which would kill them. This
also ensures that they retain a supply
of water containing vital oxygen.
▶ MUSSELS
The hinged shells of mussels gape open
when they are underwater, allowing them
to feed, but are sealed shut at low tide.
154
▼ COLOR CODE
LIFE ZONES
The bands of color on this rock are Many of the organisms on rocky shores live permanently
different types of organism, including attached to the rocks. Some animals can survive for
yellow lichens at the top, pale barnacles longer out of the water than others, which allows them
in the middle, and green anemones at
the bottom near the low-tide mark.
to live higher above the low-tide mark, and have this
part of the shore to themselves. As a result, many rocky
shores have distinct zones of different-colored animals,
seaweed, and other organisms living on the rocks.
HIGH WATER
When the rising tide covers the rocks, the shore is
transformed. Seaweed billows up in the water,
and the animals hidden in them emerge to feed.
Other animals that live attached to the rocks open
up to extend tubes and tentacles that gather food
from the water swirling around them. Fish move in
to seize what food they can before the falling tide
leaves the shore once again high and dry.
ROCKY RETREAT
Rocky shores also provide food for mobile animals
such as shorebirds and crabs, which come and go as
the tide allows. Seals use rocky shores as safe refuges
from sharks and other marine hunters, and as places
to warm up after hunting in the cold water.
▲ SUNBATHING
On the tropical Galápagos Islands, marine iguanas bask on
the warm rocks of the shore alongside red Sally Lightfoot crabs.
155
Tide pools WOW!
A lot of rocky-shore animals spend the hours Some small fish spend
most of their lives in
of low tide in small rock pools that stay full of
tide pools, defending them
seawater, so they do not need ways of surviving as their home territory
COAST AND SEASHORE
on the open shore. Some of these animals, such and even breeding
as certain sea anemones, live in these tide pools in them.
all the time. Others, including many crabs and
small fish, roam widely over the flooded shore at
SAFE REFUGES
high water to find food, then retreat to the pools Tide pools form in rocky depressions and
when the tide goes out. A few open-water animals crevices on the shore that have no gaps in
the rock to let the water out. These act like
may also get stranded in the pools by accident. natural marine aquariums, and the water
is changed every time the tide rises to cover
them. Animals and seaweeds can live in
these pools just as they would in the open
sea. Many of the animals are hard to spot
because they are so well camouflaged.
▼ ROCKY RETREAT
The crystal-clear water in this tide pool on the
Hawaiian island of Oahu reveals a permanent
growth of seaweeds that give shelter to small animals.
▲ SNAKELOCKS ANEMONE
Unlike the sea anemones that live higher up the shore,
the snakelocks anemone cannot retract its long tentacles
and close itself up to survive on the bare rock at low tide.
POOL RESIDENTS
Many of the animals in tide pools spend their
lives attached to one spot on the rock. Since they
are always submerged—either by the pool water
or by the high tide—they do not need ways of
surviving out of the water. They include animals
such as sea squirts and the snakelocks anemone,
which would dry out and die if they were exposed
to the air for more than a few minutes.
156
HIGH AND LOW
The richness of tide-pool life depends on the size of the pool
and its position on the shore. Small pools may heat up or even
freeze, so they are dangerous for marine animals. Pools on the
upper shore are exposed for many hours, if not days, and may
dry out or fill with rain. Big pools on the middle and lower shore
are more like the open sea, and hold far more life.
Middle shore
▲ ROCK GUNNEL
A north Atlantic shore fish, the rock gunnel can survive
among wet seaweed at low tide, but prefers a deep pool.
BACK TO BASE
Some tide-pool animals, including small shore Lower
shore
fish, shrimp, and crabs, are mobile enough to
leave the pool when the rising tide floods the shore.
This enables the animals to look for food among
the surrounding rocks. Most return to the pools
as the tide begins to fall to avoid being stranded.
But some, such as shore crabs, are able to find
their way back even after the tide has gone out.
STRANDED
Sometimes, animals turn up in tide pools that they
would rather not be in. When hunting for food in open
water near the shore at high tide, they can get left behind
as the tide level falls. Some of these tide-pool visitors are
big animals such as octopuses and lobsters. They have to
wait until the next high tide gives them a means of escape.
▲ COMMON OCTOPUS
Found throughout the world, the common octopus hunts
in shallow coastal seas and may get stranded in tide pools.
Remarkably, it can change its color and patterns instantly
in order to hide and blend in with its surroundings.
157
COAST AND SEASHORE
▲ COPACABANA BEACH
This world-renowned crescent beach forms
part of the seafront of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
and spits
the waves create a broad bay with a
beach that forms in a sweeping curve.
These beautiful crescent beaches are
ideal for leisure activities such as
The rock that is torn from exposed rocky shores swimming and surfing, so they are
often big tourist attractions. As a result,
by the power of the waves is smashed up and swept many have become famous beach resorts.
along the coast to quieter shores. It settles as beaches
of shingle or sand, depending on how sheltered they
are. These beaches are constantly reshaped by the LONGSHORE DRIFT
Waves breaking at an angle to the shore
waves, creating a variety of distinctive beach types. throw pebbles and sand along the beach at
Meanwhile, the wind can blow beach sand way up the same angle. Known as longshore drift,
this process can carry beach material away
beyond the tideline to build high coastal dunes. and move it out to sea. Sometimes barriers
are placed to slow the process of longshore
drift. The sand and pebbles then pile up against
these in a zigzag pattern, as seen below.
POCKET BEACHES
Projecting headlands often
enclose small sandy beaches.
These form where narrow bands
of softer rock between the
headlands have been cut back by
the waves. The sand often builds
up over time, but the headlands
stop it from being carried along
the coast by the waves, as is the
case on more open shores.
158
LONG BEACHES
Longshore drift can create beaches that extend
for incredible distances along the coast. They
often form banks with the sea on one side and
SPITS
Some long beaches extend into offshore
spits. Sand and pebbles shifted along
the beach by longshore drift are
added to the tip of the spit, so
WOW!
it keeps on growing. Dungeness
Spit on the Pacific coast
of Washington State,
seen here, grows by The longest natural
15 ft (4.5 m) beach lies on the coast
each year. of southern Bangladesh.
Known as Cox’s Bazar,
it extends for 75 miles
(120 km).
Hidden riches
A beach at low tide can look completely empty, aside from
the shorebirds picking their way over the sand. But below the
surface, it is often teeming with life. Many of the animals are
COAST AND SEASHORE
burrowing worms and shellfish that process the sand for edible
particles. Others emerge from the sand at high tide to gather
plankton from the water, risking attack by predatory fish.
SPINY BURROWERS
Among the animals that spend their
lives hidden in beach sand are heart
urchins, sometimes known as sea
potatoes. These relatives of typical
sea urchins have short, mobile spines
that they use for digging, and long,
flexible tube feet like those of starfish.
They live in burrows in the wet sand,
gathering and feeding on the tiny
fragments of dead marine life.
▲ HEART URCHIN
When buried, a heart urchin uses its long tube feet to
open up breathing and feeding channels in the sand.
HUNGRY WORMS
WOW!
At low tide, many sandy beaches are dotted with the
coiled casts of burrowing lugworms. These marine
worms live in U-shaped burrows that allow them to
draw water in at one end. They feed by swallowing Eleven square feet
sand, digesting any edible material, and ejecting the (one square meter)
rest on the beach surface. These casts are swept away
of a sandy tidal beach
every time the tide covers them, so each one indicates
the feeding activity of just a few hours. can contain up to
20,000 buried sand
mason worms.
160
Tentacles
Shell
fragments
SECRET SHELLFISH
Burrowing clams and other mollusks emerge to
feed at high tide. They usually keep their bodies
hidden, but extend fleshy, flexible siphon tubes
to gather food. Most clams draw food-bearing
seawater through a filter, while others such as
tellins collect food from the flooded beach
SPREADING FANS surface. When the tide level falls again, the
Many marine worms that live in clams retreat back into the sand, so they
the sand must wait for the sea to become invisible to seabirds and other enemies.
flood the beach at high tide. Then
they emerge from their burrows
and spread fans of tentacles, which
they use to collect food from the
water. They include several types
of tube worms that mix slime from
their bodies with seashore material
to make tubes. This helps to protect
their soft bodies. The tubes rise
above the sand surface, enabling the
worms to gather food from clear water.
▲ LESSER WEEVER
Half-buried by sand in the shallows, this weever
◀ SAND MASON WORM is protected by venomous spines.
This worm uses shell fragments and sand
to build its tube. Even the tentacles of the HIGHTIDE HUNTERS
sand mason have tubes. The worm itself The burrowing animals that feed when the beach
can be up to 12 in (30 cm) long.
is flooded at high tide are in turn preyed upon
by fish that swim in from the sea. Many of these
hunters are seafloor-feeding specialists such as the
venomous weevers, flatfish, and rays, but they
also include bigger fish such as sea bass and cod.
161
Crab plover
▼ CAMOUFLAGE COLORS
Perched on a rock, a turnstone is easy
to see. But its colors make it almost
invisible on weed-strewn shores.
162
Eurasian curlew
Sensitive probe
Black-winged stilt
High rise
163
COAST AND SEASHORE
OYSTERCATCHERS
In winter, millions of shorebirds migrate
south from the Arctic to gather on the coastal
mudflats and beaches of northern Europe.
Here, they join other shorebirds such as these
oystercatchers to forage for food on the
exposed mud and sand, and rest in tightly
packed flocks at high tide.
COAST AND SEASHORE
SHEER CLIFFS
Seabird nesting colonies attract
Seabird colonies
foxes and other land predators Ocean birds cannot lay their eggs at sea. They must
intent on eating the eggs and
chicks. This encourages the birds to return to the land to nest on solid ground. They nest
choose nesting sites that the foxes as close to the water as possible, relying on the shallow
cannot reach easily. Many nest on
COAST AND SEASHORE
sheer cliffs with narrow ledges just coastal seas to supply them with a rich source of food
wide enough for the adult birds to to raise their young. Many of these birds form large
sit on their eggs. When the young
birds are ready to leave the nest,
coastal breeding colonies, especially on isolated
they can simply drop off the ledge sea stacks and islands.
and flutter into the sea.
▲ CONICAL EGGS
Female guillemots lay a single egg on bare
cliff ledges. Like other cliff-nesters, they
have conical eggs that roll in circles, so
they are less likely to fall off the cliff ledges.
▲ CLIFF COLONY
Hundreds of Brünnich’s guillemots nest
on the cliff ledges of this Arctic shore. SAFE REFUGES
After breeding, they all vanish out to sea. The safest nesting sites for seabirds are small islands and
sea stacks. Since these are cut off from the mainland, ground
predators cannot get at the nests, although they are still open
to attack by predatory birds such as skuas. On many of these
sites, every patch of level ground is occupied. Some island
gannet colonies are so densely packed with white birds that,
from a distance, they look as if they are covered with snow.
COAST AND SEASHORE
SHOWING OFF
Several ocean birds perform
spectacular courtship displays on
their nesting grounds. Some of the
most dramatic are those of male
frigatebirds, which have brilliant red
inflatable throat pouches. They
display in the trees on tropical coral
islands, competing with each other
to attract females flying overhead.
▼ STRONG GRIP
An Atlantic puffin can catch several
small fish in one dive. It uses its strong
tongue to grip the fish it has caught
while seizing more in its colorful beak.
GUANO ISLANDS
Some islands off the Pacific coast of South America
have been used as seabird breeding colonies for
centuries. The rocks are covered with incredibly
deep layers of seabird droppings, known as guano.
Some layers are more than 164 ft (50 m) deep.
These deposits were once mined for use as fertilizer
for farming and shipped all over the world.
OUT OF SIGHT
While seabirds such as guillemots and gannets
nest on rocky ledges or the flat tops of islands,
others nest in burrows. They include puffins,
which will often take over old rabbit burrows
to avoid having to dig their own nests. The
baby puffins stay hidden in their dark burrows,
where they are safe from the gulls and skuas
that are their main enemies. The adults hunt
in the sea nearby, returning with beakfuls of
fish to feed to their young.
Sea turtles
Most marine animals breed at sea, but sea turtles must
come ashore to nest. They select warm, sandy, remote
beaches where the female turtles can haul themselves
COAST AND SEASHORE
out of the water easily, dig holes in the sand, and bury
their eggs. The warm sand incubates the eggs, and when
the young hatch they make their way back to the sea.
Here, they feed on marine life including shrimp and
jellyfish, as well as seaweeds and seagrasses. The turtles
may travel vast distances across oceans, especially when Olive ridley sea turtle
Mass breeder
returning to their home beaches to breed.
Length Up to 28 in (70 cm)
Range Mainly Pacific and Indian oceans
Diet Fish, jellyfish, clams, and prawns
Leatherback sea turtle
Biggest turtle on Earth This small sea turtle starts life with a
grayish heart-shaped shell that eventually
Length Up to 118 in (300 cm) changes to an olive green color. Although
Range All warm and temperate oceans they prefer to live alone, hundreds and
Diet Jellyfish sometimes even thousands of females
The biggest sea turtle is the giant leatherback, enabling it to swim vast distances with return en masse to the beaches where
which gets its name from the leathery skin little effort. It is specialized for eating they hatched to lay their eggs in the sand.
that covers its ridged shell—unlike other jellyfish; its throat is lined with fleshy,
turtles, its shell is not made of tough keratin. downward-pointing spikes to ensure
The leatherback’s body is highly streamlined, its slippery victims cannot escape.
168
Flatback sea turtle Hawksbill sea turtle
Shallow-water inhabitant Patterned shell
169
Shore crabs WOW!
Although crabs are sea creatures adapted for living Each female red land crab
underwater, their tough waterproof shells and strong legs can lay 100,000 eggs, so
between them the females
allow many of them to feed on the exposed shore at low release up to 1.5 trillion
COAST AND SEASHORE
tide. They have evolved modified gills that enable them to eggs into the ocean
breathe air, giving them the opportunity to spend most of each year.
their lives on the open beach, up trees, and even far inland.
AQUALUNG
Crabs gather oxygen from the water using gills, like fish. But a
crab’s gills are inside a cavity that holds a supply of oxygenated
water. As the oxygen in the supply is used up, more seeps into
it from the air. This allows a common shore crab to live out
of water for many hours, provided it keeps its gills moist.
◀ SHORE CRAB
This widespread crab feeds both in the water and
on the shore, preying on mussels and other animals.
SCUTTLING GHOSTS
Tropical ghost crabs are so well adapted
to life on the open beach that they can
drown if they stay underwater for too
long. They live in burrows in the sand
above the high tideline, emerging to
search for edible scraps and animal
prey. Their flip-up eyes have sharp
vision and, at the slightest alarm, they
scuttle sideways into their burrows at
high speed. Many are also very well
camouflaged, vanishing like ghosts
when they stop moving.
LAND CRABS
Although shore crabs and ghost crabs are well
equipped for living on beaches, they do not stray
far from the sea. Other crabs have almost given
up marine life, and are known as land crabs.
They have gills, like all crabs, but their gill cavities
are lined with blood vessels that extract oxygen
directly from the air, just like our lungs. These
crabs live and feed on land for most of the year,
but they must return to water to lay their eggs.
170
RED TIDE COCONUT MONSTER
Red land crabs live in the forests of The biggest and most impressive
Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. land-living crabs are the tropical
In October of every year, 30 million robber crabs. These giants can weigh
of them leave their burrows and migrate up to 9 lb (4 kg)—as much as a
to the coast to breed, swarming over domestic cat. Despite this, they
the island like a red tide. A few days climb trees, especially coconut
after reaching the shore, the females palms growing on tropical islands.
release their eggs into the ocean. They often eat coconuts, and are
Where rivers reach the sea, they often broaden out into
tidal estuaries. The salty seawater makes the tiny mud and Shanghai.
particles carried in the river water settle on the bottom
in thick layers, which are exposed as mudflats at low
tide. The mud is salty and airless but, despite this, it is
rich in food and home to huge numbers of animals.
MUDDY RIVERS
The mud particles carried by rivers
are microscopic, but the salt in seawater
makes them clump together into bigger,
heavier particles that sink to the river bed.
When the tide is rising, the incoming flow
of seawater stops the river water moving,
which also encourages particles to settle.
TIDAL BORES
When the rising tide pushes water up
an estuary to where the river is narrower, ▲ RÍO DE LA PLATA
this can cause a funnel effect that forces This view from space shows the muddy
water of a South American river forming
the water level to rise higher and higher. a broad estuary where it meets the sea.
On some rivers this creates a wave that
surges upriver, called a tidal bore. Some
of these are high enough to surf on.
GLEAMING MUDFLATS
The muddy sediment that settles
on the river bed at high tide is
exposed as mudflats when the tide
goes out. The falling tide allows the
river flow to speed up, so it scours a
narrow central channel through the
gleaming mud. This is joined by many
smaller channels flowing off the flats.
▶ NATURAL PATTERN
Tiny drainage channels carry water off
the mud into bigger channels, which
join up to flow into the main river.
172
COAST AND SEASHORE
SMELLY GAS
The tidal mud is full of microbes that live by breaking
down the remains of dead plants and animals. They can
survive without air, but they release a gas called hydrogen
sulfide, which smells of rotten eggs. The gas bubbles up
out of the mud, making the mudflats smell terrible.
MUD PROCESSORS
The microbes in the
mudflats feed millions of
burrowing worms, while
mollusks such as cockles
and clams filter the water for
food. Other animals like these
tiny spire snails creep over
the mud surface, nibbling at
seaweeds and dead animals
washed in by the tide.
HUNGRY VISITORS
The large number of small animals that live in the mudflats
attract flocks of shorebirds as well as wildfowl such as ducks
and geese. The birds spread out across the mud at low tide, and
retreat to the seashore when the tide comes in again. Food
buried in the mud can also attract much bigger animals.
▲ GRIZZLY BEAR
In Alaska, grizzly bears dig in the mud of river estuaries
at low tide looking for razor clams and other shellfish.
173
COAST AND SEASHORE
Deltas
Beyond the coast, any mud and
sand carried into the sea by the
river water is usually swirled away by
waves and currents. But if the load of
sediment carried by the river is very large, One of the many
channels flowing off
or the sea is very calm, the sediment settles the Mississippi River
Delta toward the sea
before it can be carried away. It builds up
in layers that grow outward from the shore,
creating an extension of the land called a delta.
SPREADING FANS
A typical river delta is a huge flat area of sand
and mud. Sediment dropped by the river blocks
its original course, forcing the river to spill out
in many smaller channels. These soon get blocked River water breaking through
the levees fans out in a pattern
up too, so the mud-loaded water overflows and that looks like the toes of a bird
forms even more channels, fanning out over
a growing mass of soft sediment.
▲ MISSISSIPPI LEVEES
Water pouring into the Gulf of Mexico from the
Mississippi River is separated from the sea by levees
built up from the sediment carried by the river.
tide. In the cooler parts of the world, these specialists are the
grasses and other low-growing plants that form salt marshes.
Dotted with pools and muddy creeks, the marshes provide
safe refuges for many types of coastal wildlife.
QUIET LAGOONS
▲ GLASSWORT Salt marsh plants usually take root in quiet
Looking like a tiny, spineless cactus, River delta
estuaries and lagoons that are cut off from Mainland
this plant lives in the wettest part of the
the sea by sandy spits and islands. These
salt marsh, flooded at every high tide.
natural barriers shelter the plants from the Estuary
PIONEER PLANTS waves that might uproot them. The still
The first plants to take root in the water also allows fine mud to settle and
Lagoon
tidal mudflats are cordgrass and build up, so it can support more and more
leafless, juicy-stemmed plants such plants. In time, the salt marsh may take
as glasswort. These plants can cope over the whole area, aside from a central
river channel bordered by bare mudflats.
with being submerged by tidal
saltwater twice a day, every day, and
KEY Dunes Barrier island
they have special adaptations to deal
Salt marshes
with the salt. Their roots bind the Sea
mud together. They also trap more Mudflats
particles from the water, slowly
raising the level of the mudflat.
MARSH ZONES
Over time, the pioneer plants raise
the mud level, so the lower marsh
becomes drier and less salty. Different
plants, such as sea lavender, take root
in this higher zone, trapping sediment
and raising the level even further. At
the top of the marsh, the salt marsh
plants give way to freshwater plants.
▶ FLOODED MARSH
High spring tides like this one flood the
entire marsh with salty water. But during
neap tides, only the lowest levels are flooded.
176
WINDING CREEKS
A typical salt marsh is a patchwork
of winding creeks, muddy pools, and
dense patches of specialized salt
marsh plants. At high tide, the pools
and creeks fill up with saltwater,
which drains away at low tide to
leave shining wet mud.
SALTY HAVENS
Remote salt marshes make ideal habitats
for animals. They include insects and
snails, which are eaten by frogs and
small mammals. These in turn are
hunted by snakes and foxes. Fish and
other marine animals visit at high tide,
while at low tide the muddy pools and
creeks attract flocks of shorebirds.
◀ DAZZLING FLOCK
On some warmer salt marshes, such as the
Camargue in southern France, the waters
support flocks of flamingos. They wade through
the shallow water in their search for prey.
WOW!
In North America, up to
75 percent of the fish that
are caught for food rely on
salt marshes as nurseries
for their young.
Mangrove swamps
On the fringes of warm tropical oceans, salt marshes ▼ SEEDLING SPEARS
Seeds cannot sprout in the airless tidal mud,
are replaced by swampy forests of salt-tolerant trees so mangroves hang on to their seeds until they
turn into tiny seedling trees. These then drop
called mangroves. These tidal forests extend along off, usually at high tide so they float away to
COAST AND SEASHORE
more than 60 percent of tropical shorelines, where other shores. Each seedling has a long, sharp
root that stabs into the mud where it settles,
they help stop coastal erosion and flooding by enabling it to grow into a new tree.
BREATHING ROOTS
Tidal mud is full of plant nutrients,
but it is also salty, waterlogged, and
airless. Most plants cannot grow in this
tidal mud because they need to absorb
oxygen through their roots. Mangroves
can survive thanks to exposed roots
that absorb air through breathing
pores. Some have roots that stick
up from the mud as a mass of spikes.
Others have aerial roots that sprout
from high up the trunk and arch down
through the air into the stagnant mud.
▼ FLOODED FOREST
At high tide most of the mangrove swamp
is flooded with seawater. Small fish swim
in from the sea to feed among the tangled
roots of the trees, which also provide
protection from bigger predators.
178
SHARPSHOOTER ON THE MUD
Some fish are specialized for living among At low tide the mangroves become
mangroves. They include the archerfish mosquito-infested swamps, with a
of Southeast Asia. As it swims through tangled mass of tree roots sprouting
the flooded forest, it looks for insects from salty, smelly mud. Fiddler crabs
on overhanging plants above the surface. swarm over the mud, gathering it up
When it spots its prey, the fish squirts with their claws and stripping it of
a jet of water at it, knocking it into the edible particles. The mud is also
water where it can snap it up. home to air-breathing fish called
▶ FIDDLER CRAB
Male fiddler crabs have
a small feeding claw, and a
bigger, brightly colored
claw that they use for
signaling to other male
crabs in territorial displays.
▶ MUDSKIPPER
Each mudskipper lives
in a burrow in the wet
mud. It defends its burrow
against invasion from other
mudskippers, especially
during the breeding
season when the burrow
acts as a nursery.
POWERFUL PREDATORS
The fiddler crabs and mudskippers
foraging on the mud at low tide are
hunted by a variety of land-based
animals, including raccoons, monkeys,
and the venomous mangrove snake.
Some of these fall prey to powerful
predators such as saltwater crocodiles and
even tigers. The Sundarbans mangrove
swamp at the mouth of the Ganges
River in India and Bangladesh is one
of the last habitats of the Bengal tiger,
and is now a protected wildlife reserve.
179
COAST AND SEASHORE
SCARLET IBIS
Perched on the mangroves growing on the tidal
shores of the Caribbean, a flock of scarlet ibis
waits for the falling tide to expose the mudflats
below. The birds prey on shrimp and similar
shellfish, which contain the red substance that
turns their feathers scarlet.
BEAKY GRAZER
In tropical coral seas, seagrasses grow in
the sand of sheltered coral lagoons. They
are eaten by the green sea turtle—the only
species of sea turtle that is herbivorous.
d o f the excess sal
Seagrass is so important to this animal
ri tf
that some varieties are known as ge t r
to
om
turtle grass. Like other turtles,
the green sea turtle has ar s
te eir
th
no teeth, and crops the
soft seagrass with its
a lty bod
sharp-edged beak. s ies.
uce
rod
s p
r tle
Sea t u
GIANT SEA SNAIL
One of the most impressive animals living on seagrass
beds is the queen conch—a large sea snail with a shell
that can be up to 14 in (35 cm) long. It makes its home
in the warm, shallow coastal waters of the Caribbean Sea
and the Gulf of Mexico, where it uses its toothed tongue
to feed on seagrasses and various types of seaweed.
SEA COWS
WOW!
Seahorses have to eat
continuously to stay
alive—they have no
stomach so food passes
quickly through their
digestive system.
183
Sea snakes
and crocodiles
COAST AND SEASHORE
wa
ter rgest re
c rocod la pti
ile is the world’s le.
184
DEADLY VENOM SEAGOING LIZARDS
All sea snakes aside from sea kraits Some big tropical monitor
are true marine reptiles because they lizards may swim out to
never return to land. They even breed sea to reach other shores.
at sea, giving birth to live young in But the only lizard that is
the water. Their venomous bite is specialized for ocean life
incredibly powerful—far more deadly is the marine iguana of the
than a cobra’s. This is because they Galápagos Islands. It eats seaweed,
need it to catch fish, which could which it gathers from submerged rocks.
▶ MARINE IGUANA
The fierce-looking marine
▲ YELLOWBELLIED SEA SNAKE iguanas normally have dark
The yellow-bellied sea snake is found in skin, but males glow with vivid
the Indian and Pacific oceans. It hunts colors in the breeding season. Long claws for
during the day, preying on small fish. clinging on to rocks
CARING PARENT
Widespread across Central America from the Pacific
coast to the eastern Caribbean, the American crocodile
has special adaptations that allow it to live in saltwater.
This helps the crocodile to hunt in both freshwater
and shallow tropical seas. Like all crocodiles, it lays
eggs on land. It buries them in a mound of sand on a
river bank, and relies on the tropical climate to keep
them warm, so that they develop and hatch.
▶ AMERICAN CROCODILE
American crocodiles lie in wait
for hours, ready to ambush prey.
They feed mainly on fish, but
also use their powerful jaws
to crush turtle shells.
WOW!
DEADLY PREDATOR
The fearsome saltwater crocodile hunts in rivers
and along coasts. It often targets land mammals
that have waded into shallow water, dragging
them under to drown. Found in southeast Asia
A saltwater crocodile can
and Australia, saltwater crocodiles have also kill and eat an animal the
colonized a number of small islands in the south size of a water buffalo—but
Pacific; some have even reached as far as Japan. it will not need to eat
again for six months
◀ SALTWATER CROCODILE
This young male saltwater crocodile can grow or more.
to at least 23 ft (7 m) long. During its lifetime,
its long, sharp teeth are constantly replaced.
185
POLAR SEAS
SEAS
POLAR
Despite being sealed
beneath thick ice for
POLAR SEAS
half the year, the polar
seas of the Arctic and
Antarctic are some of
the most wildlife-rich
habitats on the planet.
Polar extremes
In the Arctic and Antarctic, the Sun disappears
below the horizon for most of the winter. As air
temperatures plunge far below the freezing point,
the polar oceans freeze over, and a lot of the marine
life moves away or lies dormant. But during the short
POLAR SEAS
FROZEN OCEANS
The Arctic Ocean is centered on the
North Pole, but most of the Southern
Ocean lies at some distance from
the South Pole. This means that the
central Arctic Ocean is colder than
the Southern Ocean. As a result, the
sea at the North Pole is permanently
frozen over. But the vast mass of
ice-covered rock at the South Pole is
so intensely cold that it chills the air
flowing off it, and this keeps the
surface of the surrounding Southern
Ocean frozen throughout the winter.
▲ ROSS SEA ICE
Dark water appears between drifting ice floes
on the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as the ice breaks
up in the weak summer sunshine.
POLAR SUNLIGHT
The winter freeze is caused by the way the
Sun never rises for long in the polar winter,
so there is very little sunlight to warm the In the far
surface of the ocean. By contrast, the Sun north, energy
never sets in the polar summer, but it from the Sun
is spread out
is always very low in the sky because
Earth’s surface does not face toward the
Sun in these regions. The Sun’s rays are
In the tropics,
spread over a much wider area at the energy from
poles than they are near the equator, the Sun is
weakening their power and allowing some ice concentrated
to survive at sea level throughout the summer.
188
THE BIG FREEZE
Winter air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean sink to
below −22°F (−30°C), making the sea freeze over. The
ice covers an area up to 5.8 million sq miles (15 million
sq km). Most of this melts in summer, leaving less than
2.3 million sq miles (6 million sq km) of ice near the
North Pole. Around Antarctica, the winter sea ice covers
8.5 million sq miles (22 million sq km), shrinking in
summer to 1.5 million sq miles (4 million sq km).
◀ ICY SEAS
As the spring Sun warms the sea near Baffin Island
POLAR SEAS
in Arctic Canada, the sea ice starts breaking up and
drifting along the coast with the swirling currents.
By midsummer (inset), all the sea ice has melted.
PLANKTON BLOOM
The water of cold oceans is rich in minerals stirred up
from near the seabed. These are vital nutrients for the
tiny algae of the phytoplankton. When the ice melts in
summer, they combine with the 24-hour daylight to fuel
huge blooms of phytoplankton, as seen here (blue) in the
Arctic. In turn, these provide food for other marine life.
FREEZING SEAS
Sea ice does not form in a solid
sheet. If the air temperature keeps
falling, the water freezes in stages
starting with a mass of small ice
crystals called frazil or grease
ice. These crystals freeze together
to form roughly circular plates of
pancake ice. They then fuse into
thick pack ice that breaks up and
▲ GREASE ICE ▲ PANCAKE ICE ▲ MULTIYEAR ICE
freezes together again many Ice crystals freezing at the surface The grease ice forms plates, and The ice forms a rough, tumbled
times, but eventually becomes form a layer of slushy ice, like liquid as these bump together their sheet made up of thick ice floes
welded together into a solid sheet. mud; seals can surface through it. edges turn up, like pancakes. pushed together by the wind.
190
DRIFTING PACK ICE
Most of the sea ice is mobile pack
ice that drifts on the polar oceans. In
the Arctic Ocean the currents carry
the ice across the North Pole, where
the low temperatures make it grow
thicker over many years. Eventually,
it starts drifting away from the Pole,
gets thinner, and finally melts into
the ocean. This means that the
marker on the ice indicating the
POLAR SEAS
North Pole is always moving with the
ice, and has to be regularly relocated.
FROZEN VOYAGE
In the 1890s, Norwegian Fridjtof Nansen
proved that ice drifted across the North
Pole by allowing his specially strengthened
ship Fram to become frozen into it. Over
three years, the current carried the ice and
ship across the top of the world, past the
North Pole, until Fram broke free of the ice
near Svalbard, Norway, in August 1896.
▶ SUPERSTRONG
An icebreaker can move
through sea ice up to
6 ft (1.8 m) thick.
ICEBREAKER
All around the Arctic Ocean, frozen seas are
cleared for shipping by powerful icebreakers.
These specially strengthened ships have gigantic
engines that drive them up over the floating ice,
so their immense weight smashes the ice. Icebreakers
also work around Antarctica, but less frequently
because there are no major shipping routes there.
Life under
the ice
Although the water beneath the sea ice is cold, it is
still much warmer than the ice itself. So, provided
POLAR SEAS
◀ ANTARCTIC KRILL
Green algae growing on the underside
of the floating ice provides a half-frozen
feast for these hungry krill in spring.
192
▼ SUPER SCAVENGERS
Despite the chill, these scavenging
starfish thrive on the seabed
beneath the floating ice of the
Antarctic Weddell Sea.
POLAR SEAS
An ice fish has a ghostly
Salty seawater doesn’t freeze until its
appearance because its
temperature falls to almost 28.4°F blood is colorless—it
(−2°C)—lower than the freezing point does not contain the red
of most animals’ bodies. Specialized cells that absorb oxygen.
In the oxygen-rich polar
animals such as this Antarctic ice fish water, its blood can
survive because natural antifreezes in carry enough oxygen
their bodies usually stop them from without them.
getting lethal frostbite.
SEABED DANGERS
The wealth of food in cold polar seas means that those
seabed animals able to survive the near-freezing water
beneath the ice can flourish in huge numbers. But these
animals live under constant threat of being ground to
a pulp by ice floes drifting into the shallows, or being
frozen solid by ice forming around them in the water.
ice in spring. They feed their pups The most numerous are crabeater seals, which breed on
on their rich milk for three weeks,
until the pups are ready to enter the ice. Most penguins leave the ice to nest on Antarctic
the water and hunt for themselves. coasts and islands when the snow melts in summer.
But uniquely, emperor penguins breed on the coastal sea
ice that extends from the shores of Antarctica in winter.
◀ KRILL STRAINER
Despite their name, crabeater seals feed almost
exclusively on the small shrimplike krill that form
huge swarms in the cold Southern Ocean. They
strain the krill from the water using specialized
teeth that interlock with each other to form a sieve.
▲ FLOATING REFUGE
A drifting ice floe makes an ideal retreat
for these crabeater seals, safe from the leopard
seals that are their main enemies.
FAST FACTS
■ Baby crabeater seals put on weight
at the rate of 9 lb (4 kg) a day, while
they are feeding on their mothers’ milk.
■ When breeding, krill-eating chinstrap
194
DIVING PENGUINS ▲ DOWNY CHICKS ROCKY NURSERIES
POLAR SEAS
The dark, downy Adélie
Small Antarctic penguins such as chinstrap Adélie penguins breed on the shores of
chicks grow fast, and are
and Adélie penguins also feed mainly on soon almost as big as their Antarctica itself, further south than any
krill, chasing after them and catching them black-and-white parents. other penguins. They wait until the relative
one by one in their sharp bills. The bigger After about eight weeks, warmth of summer has melted the snow to
their soft downy feathers
king and emperor penguins catch fish and are replaced by waterproof expose some bare rock on the coast, then
squid, sometimes diving to immense depths feathers, enabling them to form big breeding colonies with hundreds
to find them. The emperor penguin may hunt for food on their own. or even thousands of mated pairs. Each pair
dive to a depth of 1,640 ft (500 m) or more, makes a nest of stones, and they take turns to
and stay underwater for up to 18 minutes incubate their two eggs until the chicks hatch.
before returning to the surface for air.
HUDDLING EMPERORS
Most Antarctic penguins nest on
rocky shores in summer. But emperor
penguins are bigger and take longer
to grow up, so the summer is not long
enough for them to both incubate
their eggs and rear their chicks.
Instead, they start breeding on the
▲ WINTER VIGIL sea ice the previous winter, huddling
Emperor penguins lay their eggs in autumn. They are together to keep out the bitter chill.
incubated by the males throughout the bone-chilling The eggs hatch in spring, so the chicks
Antarctic winter, while the females feed at sea. Each
male supports his egg on his big black feet to keep are able to develop through the summer
it off the ice and stop it from freezing solid. before the winter closes in again.
195
POLAR SEAS
SLEEK HUNTERS
With their short legs and waddling gait,
penguins move clumsily on land. But when
they dive into the water, they are transformed
into sleek, fast, elegant swimmers. Dense
feathers and thick fat layers give penguins
the perfect streamlined body, as well as
help to keep them warm in cold seas.
POLAR SEAS
Antarctic hunters
Many of the penguins, seals, and other animals that feed in the
rich waters around Antarctica are hunted by leopard seals and
orcas—the most powerful predators in the Southern Ocean.
Leopard seals are solitary ambush hunters, while orcas prowl
the icy seas in hunting packs that work together to outwit
POLAR SEAS
LEAP OF FAITH
Although there are no killer sharks in the icy
seas around Antarctica, the water is patrolled
by equally dangerous predators. The penguins
and seals that spend much of their time on
the floating sea ice know that every time they
enter the water to find food, they risk death.
For these Adélie penguins, a high-speed dive
from an iceberg offers the best chance of
avoiding attack, because they are moving
so fast when they hit the water that their
enemies have less time to seize them.
AMBUSH KILLER
The powerful leopard seal eats a lot of krill, but it also
preys on penguins and other Antarctic seals—especially
crabeater seals. Its favorite tactic is to lurk beneath the
edge of the floating ice and wait for a victim to slip into
the water. If it is a penguin, the leopard seal seizes it and
thrashes it around in the water to kill it. This action also
makes the penguin’s skin and feathers peel away from
its body, so the meal is easier to swallow and digest.
◀ LEOPARD SEAL
A gentoo penguin
makes a desperate
bid to escape the
attack of a leopard
seal near Cuverville
Island, Antarctica.
198
TOP PREDATOR
Orcas are giant dolphins with jaws full of big,
sharp teeth. They prey on anything they can
catch and kill, including fish, penguins, seals,
and even polar bears and other whales. They
can rip big animals apart, but often swallow
seals whole. Killer whales are found in oceans
throughout the world, traveling in family
groups called pods. Each pod contains about PACK HUNTERS
20 members, which usually stay together Like all whales and dolphins, orcas are very intelligent,
for life and share the care of the young. and often cooperate to hunt. Here, four orcas have
POLAR SEAS
joined forces to catch a crabeater seal resting on an
▼ ORCA
A male orca leaps from the water in ice floe. Three of them are creating a wave that
an icy polar sea. Males have much will wash over the ice and sweep the seal into the
taller dorsal fins than females. water, where the fourth hunter is waiting to seize it.
WOW!
Each pod of orcas
specializes in hunting
a particular type of
prey, and even has its
own unique language
of sounds and calls.
ROCK AND ICE
Most of the Antarctic islands are rugged and
hostile, with high rocky peaks smothered in ice
that flows down to the sea in glaciers. Some of
them are chains of volcanic islands, which have
Antarctic
erupted from earthquake zones where two plates
of Earth’s crust grind together. The islands are
windy and cold, with frequent snowstorms,
but their bleak beaches offer easy access to
islands
an ocean teeming with fish and other food. The Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is
dotted with islands. They are rocky, icy places,
POLAR SEAS
POLAR SEAS
shores of South Georgia attracts more than 100,000
breeding pairs; each pair raises a single chick.
REMOTE NESTS
These black-browed albatrosses mate for life and
return to the same island to breed every year. They
nest on the ground near the sea in large, noisy
colonies. The birds can nest like this because the
islands have no natural ground predators, such as
foxes, to steal their eggs and young. Each pair has
a single chick, which has to be fed by its parents
for more than four months before it is able to
fly and hunt for itself.
201
Glaciers and
ice shelves
In cold climates, snow stays frozen throughout the year,
so it gets deeper and deeper as more snow falls. Its weight
POLAR SEAS
compresses the lower layers of snow into solid ice, which Hubbard Glacier
Crumbling cliffs
flows slowly downhill as glaciers. Many of these melt
Location Alaska
before they reach the coast, but some polar glaciers Length 76 miles (122 km)
flow all the way to the sea. Here they form the tidewater Status Advancing
glaciers and ice shelves that break up to create icebergs. This is the biggest tidewater glacier in North
America. It has a huge tidewater front that
extends for 6 miles (10 km), with an ice cliff
up to 394 ft (120 m) high. Ice crumbling
from the cliff forms a steady stream of
TYPES OF GLACIERS icebergs that drift into Disenchantment Bay
Most glaciers form in the mountains Direction of Continental on the southeast Alaskan coast. Despite this,
flow of ice ice sheet
from snow that collects in a rock the glacier is regularly visited by cruise ships.
basin between high peaks. When Ice cap
the basin is full, the ice overflows
and grinds its way downhill as
Valley
a valley glacier. But in very cold glacier
regions, high land is covered with Tidewater
ice caps or huge ice sheets that glacier
feed ice into outlet glaciers. Both Iceberg formed Outlet
types can reach the sea, where from glacier glacier
they become tidewater glaciers. Spreading
piedmont glacier
Location Alaska
POLAR SEAS
Length 21 miles (34 km)
Status Stable
Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska has a
total of 16 tidewater glaciers. Named after
French geographer Emmanuel de Margerie,
the Margerie Glacier is one of the most
spectacular, with walls of ice towering 262 ft
(80 m) above the water. Unlike most of the
neighboring glaciers, it has advanced over
recent years, and is now stable.
▼ WHITE WALL
The floating ice front of the Ross Ice Shelf
is more than 373 miles (600 km) long,
and up to 164 ft (50 m) high.
SPLASHDOWN
POLAR SEAS
WOW!
cracks called crevasses. When this fractured ice reaches the
sea and starts floating, it becomes unstable, so it doesn’t take
much movement to make big chunks of ice fall away from
the end of the glacier and crash into the water. Each year, up to 50,000
big icebergs are calved
BREAK-UP
A tidewater glacier or an ice shelf is attached to the rock near the
shore, but floats at the end nearest the ocean. The floating section
of ice beyond the grounding line is thinner and, as the tide rises
and falls, this flexes the floating ice until it cracks. As a result,
parts of floating ice break away as icebergs—a process called
calving. Since they are broken glacier ice, icebergs are made
of frozen fresh water.
POLAR SEAS
FLOATING ISLANDS
Enormous icebergs calve from the vast Antarctic ice shelves.
In March 2000, for example, an iceberg the size of the
American state of Connecticut split from the Ross Ice Shelf.
These immense slabs of ice float flat in the water, and are
called tabular icebergs. They look like icy islands, and in
the past many have been mistaken for real islands.
SLOW DECLINE
As they drift at sea, icebergs start melting into
strange shapes. Their weight distribution changes,
so they may tip over or even turn upside down.
This often reveals the green algae that have been
growing on the ice beneath the waterline, as well as
dark streaks of rock debris. Some end up stranded
on the shore, and slowly collapse like decaying fruit.
◀ END OF AN ICEBERG
Beached on the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula,
this iceberg is in the last stage of its life.
POLAR SEAS
BLUE ICEBERGS
Some drifting icebergs are made of very dense
ice that has taken many hundreds of years to
form deep inside glaciers and ice sheets.
Compressed by the immense weight of ice
and snow above, the ice turns a deep, vivid
blue color because all the tiny white air
bubbles have been squeezed out.
POLAR SEAS
Arctic seals
Icy Arctic seas are home to many types of seals. Most
are true seals, with back-pointing hind limbs and short
flippers that are useless on land, but perfect for driving
the seal through water. The fur seals, sea lions, and walrus
have longer front flippers and are able to turn their hind
POLAR SEAS
POLAR SEAS
the ringed seal to swim for hours in with a less obvious pattern. These seals breed
numbingly cold water in search of prey, on floating sea ice, and spend the rest of their
and rest on the ice without freezing. lives hunting out at sea for fish, squid, and
The favorite prey of polar bears, this seal small animals such as shrimp.
often stays near its breathing hole in case
it needs to make a quick escape.
Length Male up to 10 ft (3 m)
Weight Male up to 1,248 lb (566 kg)
Habitat Coastal seas
Most sea lions and fur seals live further biggest of all the eared seals, which get their Hooded seal
south, and include several species that live name from their visible ear flaps. It breeds Solitary hunter
around Antarctica. But Steller’s sea lion in big colonies on rocky beaches, with the
and the northern fur seal live and breed bigger males fighting each other over the Length Male up to 8 ft (2.4 m)
in the near-Arctic Bering Sea between females. It hunts mostly at night, preying Weight Male up to 959 lb (435 kg)
Alaska and Siberia. Steller’s sea lion is the on fish, as well as squid, crabs, and clams. Habitat Pack ice
The big hooded seal hunts large fish
and squid deep below the surface in the
Greenland Sea and far north Atlantic.
Unlike most seals, it usually lives alone.
Males are much bigger than females,
and rival males often fight each other.
Harp seal
Breeding colonies
Length Up to 6 ft (1.8 m)
Weight Up to 287 lb (130 kg)
Habitat Pack ice
Named for the harp-shaped black marking
on the silver-gray back of the adult, the
harp seal is a slender, fast-swimming fish
hunter. It spends most of its life at sea,
forming big breeding colonies on the
northern pack ice in late winter.
209
Icy nurseries
Many seals breed on the pack ice that forms
on the polar oceans, and in the Southern Ocean
around Antarctica this is a very safe strategy.
In the Arctic, the threat posed by hunting
polar bears has led to the evolution of special
POLAR SEAS
SNOW CAVE
Ringed seals live near the North Pole, where they breed on
snowy sea ice attached to the shore. Each female burrows up
through a crack in the ice to dig a cave in the tumbled ice
and snow. Her pup stays in the cave while she slips out
through the secret entrance to go hunting. This means that
both of them are always hidden from prowling polar bears.
▶ MOLTING PUP
Although it is only about eight weeks old, this ringed
seal pup is already losing the coat of long white fur that
POLAR SEAS
it was born with. It will soon look very different.
INFLATABLE
CHARMS
The hooded seal lives in the
same Arctic regions as the harp seal.
During the spring breeding season, the
adult males compete with each other by
performing a spectacular display. Each male seal fills
the top of his black snout with air to create the swollen
“hood” that gives the seal its name. He can also inflate
a balloon of red skin that emerges from his left nostril,
and shake this from side to side to make a loud pinging
sound. The males use this display to try and drive off
their rivals, but often end up fighting instead.
211
Hunters on the ice
When the Arctic Ocean freezes over, land predators are able to wander
far out onto the ice in search of prey. Two Arctic hunters make a habit
of this—the polar bear and the Arctic fox. Both are highly adapted for
surviving the cold, but the polar bear in particular is so specialized
for life on the ice that it spends more time at sea than on land.
POLAR SEAS
PROWLING FOX
The Arctic fox hunts mainly on land,
WOW!
where it preys on lemmings and other The Arctic fox’s fur is so
small mammals. But in spring (the good at keeping out the
seal breeding season), it heads out cold that the fox does not
onto the ice looking for seal pups to
kill. The Arctic fox also trails polar
start to shiver until the
bears to feast on their leftovers. Its temperature drops to
very dense white winter coat keeps −94°F (−70°C).
it warm in the bitter Arctic chill,
and it can even sleep on the ice.
▲ HIDDEN PREY
An Arctic fox finds prey beneath the snow using
b ea rs in t h e world.
t
its sensitive ears and acute sense of smell. It then
pounces on its prey from a height to pin it down.
he larges
t
are
SUMMER COAT
ar s
In summer, the Arctic fox sheds its
b e
r
Pola
thick white winter coat in favor of
a thinner brownish one. This stops
it from overheating, and also gives it
better camouflage on land when the
winter snow has melted. Some Arctic
foxes, known as blue foxes, have dark
blue-gray coats that they keep all year
round. But these foxes mainly live on
rocky shores, and rarely hunt on sea ice.
212
SEA BEAR
The polar bear is a meat-eater that SNOW CUBS
hunts at sea on the winter pack ice, Each female polar bear usually has two
protected from the cold by its dense cubs. They are born in autumn in a
fur and a thick layer of fat under its snow den on land. The mother feeds
skin. Although polar bears can swim her tiny cubs on her milk throughout
well, they cannot hunt in the water. the winter, then leads them on to the
When the sea ice melts in summer, sea ice in early spring in search of prey.
they must stay ashore without eating The cubs stay with their mother until
until the sea freezes once again. they are about two years old.
POLAR SEAS
ICE HUNTER
Polar bears eat seals—especially ringed
seals that breed in isolated snow caves
on the floating pack ice. The bears
locate these hidden seal nurseries by
smell, and are able to detect them
from at least 0.6 miles (a kilometer)
away. When a bear finds a seal nursery,
it uses its weight to punch down
through the snow and seize the seal
before it can escape—killing it with
a single swipe of its huge paw.
◀ FAMILY MEAL
Polar bears roam the drifting
pack ice in search of prey. The
cubs follow their mother so
that they can learn how to
hunt for themselves.
Humans on the ice
For thousands of years, the most effective hunters on the sea ice have
been human—the Inuit, Yupik, and other Arctic peoples. Until recently
these hunters were entirely self-sufficient, using equipment crafted
from the skins and bones of their prey. Although they now also use
a lot of modern technology, many still live by hunting.
POLAR SEAS
KEEPING WARM
In winter, the temperature in the Arctic
rarely rises above freezing point and can
plunge to below −58°F (−50°C). These
Inuit are used to the chill, but they could
not survive without their extra-warm clothes
made of furry animal skins. Traditionally,
the warmest clothes were made of caribou
(reindeer) skins, but sealskin and even
polar bear fur were also used.
POLAR SEAS
Inuit hunters used one-man canoes called kayaks to hunt
seals and whales at sea. Kayaks originally had whalebone or
timber frames covered with sewn sealskins. The plastic kayaks
now used all over the world are based on this Inuit design.
For weapons the Inuit used bows, arrows, and harpoons.
DOG POWER
For more than 4,000 years, the Inuit have used sleds
hauled by teams of husky-type dogs to travel over the
sea ice and snowy terrain. Traditional dog sleds were
made of wood or bone held together with
strips of leather rather than nails.
on
t
he
roo
f.
OCEANS AND US
AND US
OCEANS
Once seen as barriers to
OCEANS AND US
exploration, oceans have
now become rich sources
of food and mineral wealth.
But there is also an awareness
of the need to protect the
oceans from harm.
Voyages of
discovery
The first people to cross the world’s oceans were not
OCEANS AND US
218
Christopher Columbus
Accidental discovery
Date 1492–1493
He did not know that America was in his
Object of voyage Trade route
way. Columbus crossed the Atlantic with his
Distance traveled 10,000 miles (16,000 km)
fleet of three Spanish ships, landing in the
In the 1480s, Italian explorer Christopher Bahamas. Thinking he was in the Far East,
Falconet (small
Columbus planned to reach China and he called the islands the Indies. They are Helmsman steered swiveling gun)
India by sailing west around the world. still known as the West Indies today. below deck mounted on ship
OCEANS AND US
steering directions cabin
from above
Meals were
cooked on an
open fire on Pump for Chickens for eggs
the top deck emptying the and fresh meat
hold of water
Rowing boat
Cargo was
carried in
the hold
Spare sails
219
Ocean science
The science of oceanography began with the observations of naturalists
like Charles Darwin, and continued with the scientific voyage of HMS
Challenger in the late 19th century. This work laid the foundation for
modern research, using ships, submersibles, and even satellites to relay data
OCEANS AND US
OCEAN SCIENCE
Oceanography is one of the most complex
sciences, involving physics, chemistry,
geology, marine biology, and meteorology.
These subjects are studied at oceanographic
research institutes associated with universities,
such as those at Southampton in England,
Naples in Italy, and the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution in the US.
These institutes operate research ships
of their own, including this one
docked at Southampton.
National Oceanography Center in Southampton
RESEARCH SHIPS
Oceanographic research ships are
specially built for the job. As well
as having laboratories, sampling
equipment, and surveying gear,
many carry deep-sea submersibles.
These need special handling
equipment, shown in action here
as the Woods Hole research ship
Atlantis hoists the submersible
Alvin from the water after a dive.
OCEANFLOOR DRILLING
The nature of the ocean floor has been probed
by deep-sea drilling, which collects samples of
the rocks to build up a picture of its geology.
The Japanese drilling ship Chikyu, shown here, can
drill to the amazing depth of 23,000 ft (7,000 m)
below the ocean floor, in water 8,200 ft (2,500 m)
deep. The data collected by these drilling projects
has changed our understanding of the planet.
220
SONAR SURVEYS
The early research ships spent a lot of time
measuring ocean depths using huge lengths of
weighted cable. Today, however, research vessels
use sonar technology, which produces a detailed
image of the sea floor. Large areas of the ocean
have been surveyed in this way, including this
region around North Pole, color-coded for
depth; the landmass is shown as gray.
OCEANS AND US
EYES IN THE SKY
Satellite orbit Orbiting satellites give us vital information
about oceanic weather systems such
as hurricanes. They can also map ocean
Water level
Satellite is measured Data is currents, ice cover, water temperature,
by satellite sent to and plankton growth. Amazingly,
Earth
measurements of the ocean surface
Reference compared to a reference level show that
level the water is not flat, but piles up above
raised ocean floor features. Detected by
satellites, these surface measurements
can be used to create graphic, detailed
Ocean floor
images of the ocean floor.
WOW!
The maximum drilling
depth of the Chikyu is
greater than the height
of Mount Everest,
the world’s highest
mountain.
Scuba diving
Long fins on the
diver’s feet increase
swimming speed
Diver draws in
air through a tube
from the cylinder
AQUALUNG
The letters of the word
scuba stand for self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus—
a system that uses cylinders of
HARD HAT DIVERS compressed air carried on the diver’s
In the past, a diver was equipped with a waterproof back. It was invented in 1942 by
suit sealed to a metal helmet, which was filled with French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau,
air supplied through a rubber tube from a boat. and was originally called the Aqua-Lung.
Weighted boots stopped divers from floating to Unlike the earlier hard hat system, it enables
the surface, but forced them to walk on the seabed. a diver to swim in open water, and does not
The system worked well enough for static jobs such require a special suit; some scuba divers wear
as inspecting harbor walls, but it was useless suits, but only to keep warm and to protect
for exploring the underwater world. themselves from stinging organisms in the water.
222
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Since the invention of the scuba
WOW!
system, divers have seen and
photographed many types of marine
life that were once known only
from dead and dying specimens
The face masks worn brought up by fishing lines and
by scuba divers make nets. Divers have also been able
fish and other objects to watch the behavior of these
look much bigger animals, and record it on video.
OCEANS AND US
and closer than Most of the images of marine life
they really are. that we see on television have been
captured by scuba divers equipped
with specialized underwater
cameras like the one seen here.
◀ ANCIENT GLASS
A diver works on the Glass Wreck—the remains
of a ship that sank off the coast of Turkey in the
11th century with a cargo of glassware on board.
Many of the glass jars are still intact.
FULL CONTROL
Modern deep-sea exploration began with the fully
controllable Alvin. Owned by the US Navy, but operated
by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Alvin
made its first deep dive in 1965. Like the bathysphere,
Alvin has a spherical pressure-proof cabin, but this is
mounted inside a motorized hull equipped with lights,
cameras, grabs, and sample baskets. Alvin is still in use,
and has made more than 4,600 dives—including the first
INTO THE DEEP manned survey of the shipwrecked ocean liner Titanic.
The first submersible capable of
resisting the intense pressure in
the ocean depths was called the Camera
bathysphere, designed in 1928 by
American engineer Otis Barton. It Light
was made of steel with 30-in- (76-cm-)
thick windows, and suspended from
a ship by a steel cable. Naturalist
View
William Beebe (left) and Barton Mechanical
port
arm
(right) used it to make the first
studies of life in the twilight zone. Thrusters
224
DEEP DIVERS
Alvin is one of several similar
submersibles that include the Japanese
Shinkai 6500, the two Russian Mir craft,
and the Australian Deepsea Challenger,
designed to make a manned descent to
the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean.
◀ DEEPSEA CHALLENGER
In 2012, film director James Cameron used
this submersible to dive 35,787 ft (10,908 m)
OCEANS AND US
to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
▶ HIDDEN WORLD
This view through the
porthole of Alvin shows its
mechanical arm in action.
It is sampling the minerals
pouring out of a black
smoker on the Juan de Fuca
Ridge on the floor of the
northeastern Pacific.
225
Historic shipwrecks
One of the most exciting forms of exploration at sea is Mary Rose
Tudor warship
finding, excavating, and even raising historic shipwrecks.
Many of these wrecks lie in shallow coastal waters, which
are accessible to scuba divers. But others have plunged
OCEANS AND US
Kyrenia ship
Ancient timber
Vasa
Amazing survival
◀ SHIP MUSEUM
The restored Vasa is now housed in a special
museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Most of the
timber is original, but has been treated with
chemicals designed to stop it from decaying.
226
Geldermalsen Central America
Sunken treasure Lost gold
OCEANS AND US
for more than 15 million dollars. The ship was recovered using a remotely operated
was also carrying tea, which, at that time, submersible. The value of the gold found
was more valuable than its cargo of gold. so far exceeds 100 million dollars.
Titanic
Into the deep
▶ GHOST SHIP
The rail above the bow of Titanic is still
intact, but the vast, rusting hull is very
fragile and may be close to collapse.
SEA SALT
minerals range from the sand and gravel needed for the and shoveled into sacks. This
simple industry is still important
construction industry, to incredibly valuable diamonds. to many coastal communities.
Some minerals have been harvested for centuries. Others,
however, are found in much deeper parts of the ocean ▼ SALT PAN WORKERS
Rubber boots and gloves protect
and there is still no way of retrieving them without the skin of these salt gatherers
on the coast of Vietnam.
spending more than the minerals are worth.
DESALINATION
The salt in seawater makes it undrinkable. But the
salt can be removed to obtain fresh water—a process
called desalination. It uses a lot of energy, but this
is not a problem for the oil-rich desert states of
the Middle East, where it is often the only source
of fresh water. This aerial view shows one of these
desert-shore desalination plants. Some recent
installations make use of solar energy, which is
freely available in hot, dry countries, but this
technology is still being perfected.
228
VALUABLE METALS
Seawater contains dissolved minerals that may form
tiny particles. These attract other particles, and over
millions of years, they grow into fist-sized lumps that
settle on the ocean floor. They contain a variety
of valuable metals including manganese, and are
known as manganese nodules. But since these
nodules form in deep oceans, they are difficult
and expensive to harvest—as are the valuable
minerals formed by the black
OCEANS AND US
smokers that erupt from
mid-ocean ridges.
GLITTERING PRIZES
Off the southwest coast of Africa,
diamonds are mined from the sea.
These gemstones were originally
formed in rocks on land, which have
weathered over time. The diamonds
were eventually carried down rivers
to the coast, where they are found
scattered among the gravel of the
shallow seabed. Dredged up by special
ships, and then separated from the
gravel, many have the eight-sided
WOW!
form of perfect diamond crystals.
Namibia, in
southwest Africa,
has the richest known
resource of marine
diamonds in
the world.
WOW!
OCEANS AND US
TIDAL FLOW
The rotating blades of Moving water is incredibly powerful, but it is difficult
an offshore wind turbine to harness at sea. The most effective way is to use
span up to 330 ft the power of the tides as they flow in and out of
(100 m)—the length of a river estuary. At St. Malo in France, the rising
seven school buses. tide is allowed through a dam across the river
mouth, and when the tide falls again, the water
pouring out through the dam generates electricity.
OCEAN CURRENTS
Currents in oceans are like giant rivers
flowing across the globe. In the future,
it may be possible to use a powerful
current such as the Gulf Stream to drive
submerged rotors linked to electricity
generators. Such a system could provide as
much electricity as a nuclear power plant.
▶ RAISED ROTORS
This pair of current turbines has been
raised above sea level for maintenance.
WAVE ENERGY
Ocean waves are very powerful, but can be very that drives turbine generators. These generators
destructive. Turning that power into useful energy produce electricity in both directions—when
is not easy. The most successful systems use waves the wave washes into the system, and when it
to pump air through pipes, creating high pressure washes back out again.
INSHORE FISHING
Many coastal communities have
fleets of small fishing boats that go
to sea for a few hours, and return
each day to unload their catch.
The fishermen use simple nets and
lines, and if they catch just enough
fish to supply local markets, they
have little impact on fish stocks.
▶ A GOOD CATCH
With the fleet lying safely at harbor,
villagers collect the morning catch that has
been brought in by the fishermen in Mui Ne
on the central south coast of Vietnam.
FARMING SHELLFISH
Clams, limpets, and other wild shellfish have
probably been harvested since humans first walked
on Earth, but many shellfish are also well suited
to being farmed. Mussels in particular naturally
attach themselves to rocks and other hard surfaces.
They will readily cling to timber piles, rafts, and
ropes provided for them, and will gather their own
food. Mussels are also very easy to harvest when
their supports are exposed at low tide.
◀ MUSSEL FARM
Ropes wound around posts on this French
beach support thousands of farmed mussels.
232
FISH FARMS
Salmon and some other sea fish can be farmed by
keeping them in submerged cages near coasts. Tidal
water sweeping through the cages helps keep the fish
healthy. But they have to be supplied with food, and
the large numbers of fish can affect local wildlife.
OCEAN FLEETS
Most of the fish that are eaten
OCEANS AND US
worldwide are caught by fleets of
big boats or by special factory ships.
These stay at sea for months at a time
and catch vast numbers of fish, which ◀ INDUSTRIAL SCALE
This Alaskan purse-seining
they process and freeze on board. boat uses a bag-shaped net
Such fleets are even fishing in to scoop an entire school of
the stormy Southern Ocean wild salmon out of the sea.
around Antarctica.
WOW!
Every year, the world’s
fishing fleets catch up to
2.7 trillion fish, weighing
more than 83 million tons
(75 million metric tons).
OCEANS AND US
STILT FISHING
Balanced on wooden poles above the waves,
these Sri Lankan fishermen hope to catch fish
swimming in schools in the shallow water below.
They use simple rods with baited lines, and store
their catch in bags tied around the poles or their
waist. Such fishing techniques are used by coastal
communities throughout the world.
OCEANS AND US
Ocean trade
The oceans have been trading routes for centuries,
providing vital links between nations. Ships are
still the best way of transporting heavy cargoes
such as oil and cars, but they also carry many
OCEANS AND US
CONTAINER SHIP
Lightweight goods traded over long
distances are often carried by air,
especially perishable foods such as fruit.
But heavy loads are best sent by sea,
because ships are supported by the
water, allowing them to carry a huge
weight of cargo. The fuel they use is
only needed to push them along—
unlike aircraft, which must burn a lot
of fuel just to stay in the air. Ships are
slow, but for many cargoes this is not
a problem. A fleet of ships can also act
like a floating conveyor belt, delivering
an almost continuous supply of cargo.
▶ HEAVY LOAD
A colossal load of shipping containers
full of heavy freight is a standard cargo
for this specialized container ship.
236
WOW!
The biggest cargo
ship in the world,
MSC Oscar, is more
than the length of
four football fields.
OCEANS AND US
TRADING PORTS
Most of the world’s coastal cities were built on wealth created
by ocean trade. Many still have thriving ports, but most modern
cargo ships dock at dedicated terminals equipped for dealing
with particular types of freight. This port has special cranes
designed for loading and unloading containers.
FLOATING HOTELS
Big, slow ocean liners were once the
only way to travel between continents.
Today, most people travel by air, which
is much quicker, but passenger ships
have become popular for cruise vacations.
They are like giant floating hotels, which
carry tourists in luxury to a series of exotic
locations over a number of days.
PIRACY
Ocean trade is much safer than it used to
be, thanks to accurate charting of coastal
hazards and the development of electronic
navigation systems. But in some parts of the
world, ships still risk attack by heavily armed
pirates in small speedboats. If attacked, this
ship has fire hoses to stop pirates climbing
aboard and seizing command.
237
Oceans in danger
The oceans once seemed too big to be affected by
anything we could do to them. But a combination of
pollution, overfishing, and coastal development is wrecking
many marine habitats and killing their wildlife. In some
OCEANS AND US
parts of the world, large areas of the seabed near big cities
have been turned into poisoned underwater deserts.
OVERFISHING
The modern fishing industry is
so efficient that it is destroying fish
populations—a big modern fishing boat
can catch an entire school of fish in one
net, so none of the fish can escape to
breed. If this continues, there will be very
few fish left to catch by 2050. Meanwhile,
many seabirds, dolphins, seals, and sea
turtles are being killed accidentally as
they are trapped by nets and fishing lines.
SEWAGE POLLUTION
In many parts of the world, raw
sewage is pumped into the ocean.
This contains microbes that can cause
disease. It also includes substances
that fuel the growth of certain types
of plankton that create toxic “red
tides,” as seen here. When these die
off, their decay uses up vital oxygen
in the water, killing marine life.
PLAGUE OF PLASTIC
Vast amounts of garbage find their
way into the oceans, and a lot of it
drifts in the currents for years. Plastic
in particular does not rust away or
decay; it is swept up on beaches such
as this one all over the world. This
garbage forms deadly traps for sea
life. Seals, for example, get caught in
discarded, drifting fishing nets, and
often drown because they cannot
swim to the surface to breathe.
238
POISONED WATERS
Accidental oil spills from shipwrecked tankers
or damaged offshore oil rigs poison sea life,
and cover beaches with pollution. Industrial
waste is also illegally dumped in the oceans,
and this can contain equally dangerous
substances that kill fish and other animals.
OCEANS AND US
▲ OIL SPILL
Oil from the giant Norwegian
tanker Mega Borg spills out into
the Gulf of Mexico as fire crews
put out the resulting fire.
DEAD ZONES
Some big rivers are so contaminated with industrial
chemicals and farm pesticides that they have
poisoned the seabed where they flow into the sea.
The most notorious of these dead zones covers more
than 8,500 sq miles (22,000 sq km) of the Gulf of
Mexico near the Mississippi River.
▲ MANGROVE DESTRUCTION
Felling coastal mangrove forests to make way for tourist resorts destroys the natural
habitats of animals, and exposes the shore to the full fury of tropical storms.
COASTAL DEVELOPMENT
The world’s seashores are magnets for tourists, and the money
to be earned from them has led to intense development of
coastal regions. Many wild habitats, such as this mangrove
forest, have been destroyed to make way for beach resorts.
Coastal development can also lead to increased amounts of
▲ TOXIC FLOW
pollution, such as sewage and garbage that end up poisoning This view from space shows mud and pollution spilling
the sea and smothering nearby seagrass beds and coral reefs. into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River.
239
Climate change
Records show that the world is getting warmer, MELTING ICE
The polar ice sheets in Antarctica
and this change in climate may threaten marine and Greenland are melting, and the
habitats and coastal cities. Global warming could sea ice at the North Pole is getting
melt the polar ice and raise sea levels, and this thinner. In September 2012—the end
of the northern summer—the area
OCEANS AND US
would result in some islands disappearing underwater. of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice was
Warmer oceans could increase the frequency and the smallest on record. The dwindling
ice cover could have a big impact on
strength of hurricanes and other storms, as well Arctic wildlife, especially on polar
as cause damage to coral reefs. The rising level bears that hunt on the pack ice.
of carbon dioxide in the air, which is the main
cause of global warming, is also increasing
the acidity of the oceans, and this could be
catastrophic for a lot of marine life.
▲ FLOODED STREET
Many cities in Bangladesh already suffer flooding due
to heavy monsoon rain, as here in Dhaka, the capital.
But rising sea levels could make some cities uninhabitable.
OCEANS AND US
are highest, the storms will be
stronger. As cooler oceans warm
up, hurricanes will also start to affect
regions that currently lie outside
the hurricane zone.
▲ NORTHERN HURRICANE
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy swept so far
north from the Caribbean that storms
battered the coast of Maine.
CORAL BLEACHING
Unusually warm seas make reef corals
expel the tiny algae that supply them
WOW!
with food, making them turn white.
If the water cools down again, the
corals can recover, but if not, they
Some scientists predict die. This has happened several times
that, by the year 2050, in recent years, and may become an
all the summer ice at annual event. Scientists warn that this
the North Pole will coral bleaching could destroy most of
melt away because of the world’s coral reefs within 100 years.
global warming.
ACID BATH
Global climate change is being
caused by more carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. A lot of this gas
is absorbed by ocean water, but it
mixes with water to form carbonic
acid. The acid makes the oceans
less alkaline, with fewer of the
dissolved chalky minerals that
shellfish and corals need to make
their shells and skeletons. This
could be fatal to many types of
sea life, and to all the animals
that rely on them for food.
▶ THREAT TO SHELLS
These washed-up shells are made of
alkaline minerals that could become
scarce in the oceans of the future.
241
Marine conservation
Our future may depend on the health of the oceans and the fish
stocks they provide. The oceans play a vital part in the food chain
that supports not only people, but also the plants and animals living
on land. Thankfully, many people are working hard to help conserve
OCEANS AND US
the oceans and marine life. We can all play a part by disposing of
litter that could end up in the oceans by only buying fish that
are in plentiful supply, and by burning less of the fossil fuels
that are contributing to global warming.
SAFER FISHING
Improved technology may help
to reduce the numbers of seabirds,
dolphins, and sea turtles that are
accidently caught by fishing fleets.
Specially designed nets enable dolphins HELPING OUT
and turtles to escape, so they do not We can all do something to help with marine conservation.
get trapped and drown. The long, For some, this may mean clearing garbage off a nearby seashore.
multi-hooked fishing lines that A large amount of plastic garbage ends up in the ocean and
ensnare albatrosses can be fitted because it does not decay, it traps or chokes many marine
with special bird-scarers to stop the animals. Leatherback turtles, for example, swallow plastic
birds from trying to seize the bait. bags because they look like jellyfish, their main prey.
242
SAFE WATERS
Some areas of shallow sea have been set
aside as marine reserves, where fishing is
not allowed. This enables wildlife within
them to flourish. Since there are no fences
around these reserves, the fish and other
animals spread into the neighboring
waters, dramatically increasing the fish
population. So, restricting fishing in some
parts of the sea actually improves the
OCEANS AND US
catch in nearby areas.
CLEAN SEAS
An important part of marine conservation is stopping
the pollution of ocean water. Sewage, for example, gets
dumped into coastal seas, while industrial chemicals
find their way into rivers and flow into the ocean,
where the pollution creates a toxic environment for
marine life. Many countries now have laws to ensure
the correct treatment of sewage, and to prevent the
industrial pollution of rivers that flow into the sea.
▲ POLLUTED RIVER
Pollution from an Asian copper mine pours down a
once healthy river. Eventually, it will spill into the
sea, smothering and poisoning marine life.
PROTECTING COASTS
In some parts of the world, coastal development
has been virtually uncontrolled. Tourist resorts have
sprung up on wild coasts with no facilities such as
correct drainage, and this has created problems with
pollution as well as affecting the natural beauty
of the shore. But this practice is changing as local
authorities recognize the value of preserving the assets
that the tourists come to see. This means conserving
the coastline and its wildlife, as well as nearby shallow
seas. Many modern resorts are carefully planned to
have as little impact on the natural world as possible.
243
OCEANS AND US
CAPTIVE BREEDING
Some endangered marine animals can be helped
by breeding them in captivity, then releasing the
animals into the wild. Sea turtles are particularly
at risk, with only one in a thousand baby turtles
reaching adulthood. These captive-bred green
sea turtles will stand a good chance of survival
when released into the ocean.
OCEANS AND US
GLOSSARY
Glossary
Abyssal plain A flat area on the floor of Atom The smallest particle of an Bivalve A mollusk such as a clam
the deep ocean, beyond the continental element, such as iron. with two shells joined by a hinge.
shelf, at a depth of 13,000–20,000 ft
(4,000–6,000 m). Auk A type of ocean bird such as Buoyant Able to float.
a puffin, which uses its wings to
Algae Plantlike organisms that can swim underwater. Calving The process by which icebergs
make food using solar energy. Most break off from the floating ends of glaciers.
algae are single-celled microbes, but Bacteria Microscopic organisms
they also include seaweeds. with a simple single-celled form, Camouflage A pattern, body shape,
and no distinct internal structures. or color that living things use to hide
Anemone A marine animal related themselves from predators.
to jellyfish that clings to a hard Baleen The fibrous material that certain
surface and uses stinging tentacles large whales have in place of teeth, used Carbon dioxide A gas naturally present
to catch food. for filtering small animals from seawater. in the atmosphere produced by the
respiration of living things and by human
Antennae Long sensory organs that Barnacle A relative of shrimp and crabs activities, for example burning fossil fuels.
detect movement and sometimes that cements itself to a hard surface.
chemicals in the water or air. Cell The smallest unit of life. It can
Basalt A dark, heavy volcanic rock exist as a single cell, or form part of
Archaea Bacterialike microscopic that erupts as molten lava from oceanic a more complex organism.
organisms that have a different volcanoes and forms oceanic crust.
biology, and form a separate Cephalopod A type of mollusk, such as
kingdom of life. Battery In biology, a group of an octopus, with several sucker-covered
organs with the same purpose, such arms and a relatively large brain.
Archaeology The study of human as stinging cells.
history by the scientific excavation Chalk A soft type of limestone rock
and analysis of ancient remains. Bedrock The solid rock that lies beneath formed from the skeletons of microscopic
more recent, softer material (sediments). marine organisms (coccolithophores).
Atoll A ring-shaped island, often
formed from a coral reef based Bioluminescence A form of light Chitin The substance that forms the
on a sunken extinct volcano. produced by living things. tough external skeleton of a crustacean.
246
Chlorophyll A substance that absorbs Coral A small sea animal that often Ekman transport The way moving
the energy of sunlight, used by some has a hard base made of limestone and water swerves increasingly to the right
living things to make sugar in the forms colonies. Over many years the or left with depth, so that it moves in a
process of photosynthesis. limestone can build up into a coral reef. different direction from the surface water.
Chloroplast A microscopic organ within Coral reef A rocky mass built up by corals Estuary A river mouth.
a plant cell or algal cell that contains with stony skeletons, which supports many
chlorophyll, and makes sugar. other kinds of marine life. Evaporate To turn from a liquid to
a gas or vapor.
Cnidarian One of a group of marine Courtship Animal behavior, usually by
animals that includes jellyfish and corals. males, designed to win a breeding partner. Evolution The process by which
living things change over time.
Coccolithophore A microscopic marine Crustacean An animal with a hard
GLOSSARY
organism with a chalky skeleton. external skeleton and paired, jointed Excavate Dig up, often carefully and
legs, such as a crab or shrimp. systematically, to reveal buried remains.
Colony A group of animals or other
organisms that live together. Cyclone A weather system of clouds, rain, Extinct Having died out, or, in the case of
and strong winds caused by air swirling a volcano, completely stopped erupting.
Comet A space object made of ice into a region of warm, moist, rising air.
and dust that orbits the Sun, trailing Fault A fracture in rock, where the
a stream of glowing gas. Detritivore An animal that eats the rock on one side of the fracture has
decomposed remains of other living things. moved relative to the rock on the
Compound A substance that is made other side.
of the chemically bonded atoms of two Diatom A single-celled oceanic organism
or more elements. Sugar is a compound that drifts as part of the phytoplankton. Fjord A deep valley gouged by a glacier,
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It has a skeleton of glassy silica. which is now flooded by the sea.
Continent A large landmass. Dinoflagellate A different type of Fossil The remains or traces of any
single-celled oceanic organism that living thing that have survived the
Continental crust A thick slab of drifts as part of the phytoplankton. normal processes of decay, and have
relatively light rock that “floats” on been preserved by being turned to stone.
the heavier rock of Earth’s mantle Divergent boundary A boundary
and forms a continent. between two plates of Earth’s crust Fracture zone An area of oceanic
that are moving apart. transform faults, which are sliding breaks
Continental drift The process by in the ocean crust. These breaks extend
which continents are slowly dragged Dormant Inactive. away from spreading mid-ocean ridges.
around the globe by the mobile plates
of Earth’s crust. Dorsal fin The single fin on the Gastropod A type of mollusk that
back of a fish or whale. crawls on a long muscular foot,
Continental shelf The submerged fringe such as a snail.
of a continent, forming the relatively Dune A heap of sand or similar
shallow floor of a coastal sea. material built up by the wind. Geyser A jet of hot water and steam that
erupts from volcanically heated rocks.
Continental slope The edge of the Echinoderm One of a group
continental shelf, which slopes down of spiny-skinned animals that Glacier A mass of ice made of compacted
to the ocean floor. includes starfish and sea urchins. snow that flows slowly downhill.
Convection Circulating currents in Echolocation Locating prey or other Granite A hard rock that is one of the
gases or liquids such as air and water, objects in water or air by transmitting main rocks found in continental crust.
and even hot, mobile rock, driven by sound pulses and detecting the echoes.
differences in temperature. The echoes create an image of the target. Gravity The force of attraction exerted
by a large object such as planet Earth,
Convergent boundary A boundary Echo-sounding Finding the depth of which holds things on the planet
between two plates of Earth’s crust water by transmitting a sound pulse and surface and in orbit.
that are moving together, marked detecting the echo from the seabed. The
by earthquakes and volcanoes. time taken by the echo gives the depth. Gyre A large-scale circular pattern
of ocean currents, rotating
Copepod A tiny crustacean that Ecosystem An interacting community of clockwise north of the equator, and
lives in large swarms. living things in their natural environment. counterclockwise south of the equator.
247
Harpoon A type of spear. Meteorite A fragment of space rock Outlet glacier A glacier that drains
that plunges through the atmosphere ice from a much bigger ice sheet.
Herbivore An animal that eats plants and hits the ground.
or algae, rather than other animals. Pack ice Thick floating ice that has been
Microbe A microscopic living thing. formed by the freezing of the ocean
Hotspot A zone of volcanic activity surface. It can take the form of separate
caused by a stationary plume of heat Microbial Something formed of microbes. ice floes or a virtually solid sheet.
beneath Earth’s crust.
Mid-ocean ridge A ridge of submarine Parasite A living thing that feeds off other
Hurricane A severe tropical storm. mountains on the ocean floor, created live organisms without killing them first.
by a spreading rift between two plates
Iceberg Part of a glacier or ice shelf that of Earth’s crust. Pectoral fins Paired fins near a fish’s head.
has broken off and floated out to sea.
GLOSSARY
Migrate To make a regular, often Peridotite The rock that forms much
Ice floe A floating fragment of sea ice. annual journey in search of food or of Earth’s deep mantle.
a suitable place to breed.
Ice sheet A very large, deep covering Photophore An organ that produces light.
of ice over a continent. Mineral A natural solid made of one
or more elements in fixed proportions, Photosynthesis The process by which
Immune Not affected by something. usually with a distinctive crystal structure. plants and algae use light to make sugar
from carbon dioxide and water.
Incubate To keep an egg warm so it Molecule A particle formed from a
develops and hatches. fixed number of atoms. One oxygen Phytoplankton Microscopic, single-celled
and two hydrogen atoms form a organisms that drift in the sunlit surface
Invertebrate An animal that does not water molecule. waters of oceans and lakes. They use
have a jointed internal skeleton. photosynthesis to make food.
Mollusk A soft-bodied animal that may
Island arc A line of islands marking have a shell, such as a snail or a clam. An Plankton Living things that drift in lakes
a boundary between two plates of octopus is an advanced type of mollusk. and oceans, usually near the surface.
Earth’s crust. It is created by volcanic
activity as one plate plunges beneath Molten The state of having melted, Pollution Waste substances that have
the other and is destroyed. as in hot, liquid rock. been dumped into water, air, or on land.
They can often have a harmful effect on
Keratin The natural substance that Naturalist Someone who studies the environment.
forms fingernails, hair, and turtle shells. the natural world.
Polyp The tubular body form of a sea
Lagoon An area of shallow water that Northern hemisphere The region of anemone or single coral. Colonial corals
has been cut off from the sea. Earth north of the equator. are made up of many polyps.
Lava Molten rock that erupts from Nutrients Substances that living Predator An animal that kills other
a volcano. things need to build their tissues. animals for food.
Limestone A rock composed of calcite Oceanic crust The relatively thin crust Prevailing wind A wind that blows
(lime) that can be made by reef corals. of solid basalt that lies above Earth’s from a particular direction for most
mantle and forms the bedrock of the of the time.
Magma Molten rock that lies within ocean floor.
or beneath Earth’s crust. Prey An animal eaten by another animal.
Oceanography Ocean science.
Mammal One of a group of warm-blooded, Protein A complex substance that
often hairy vertebrates that feed their Octopod A marine animal with eight a living thing makes out of simpler
young on milk supplied by the mother. “feet” or arms, similar to an octopus. nutrients, and uses to form its tissues.
Mangrove Any of various trees Omnivore An animal that feeds on Protist Usually a type of single-celled
growing on muddy shores in the tropics both plants and animals. organism that is more complex than
and adapted to live with their roots and bacteria, but also includes multi-celled
lower trunks immersed in salt water. Ooze A soft sediment formed from the marine algae (seaweed).
remains of living things such as plankton.
Mantle The deep layer of hot rock that Protozoan An animal-like single-celled
lies between Earth’s crust and the core. Organism A living thing. organism, usually microscopic.
248
Radiolarian A single-celled oceanic Siphon tube A tube used by a clam, Trade wind A wind that blows steadily
organism that feeds like an animal and squid, or other mollusk to draw water from east to west over a tropical ocean.
drifts as part of the zooplankton. into its body or pump it out.
Tsunami A destructive sea wave usually
Reef A ridge of submerged rock, Solar system The system of planets, produced by an earthquake, but which
often created by marine animals moons, and asteroids orbiting the Sun. can also be caused by volcanic eruptions
called corals. and submarine landslides.
Southern hemisphere The region of
Reptile One of the group of animals Earth south of the equator. Tube feet Tubular, water-filled, mobile
that includes turtles, lizards, crocodiles, projections from the body of an
snakes, and dinosaurs. Subduction The process of one plate echinoderm animal such as a starfish.
of Earth’s crust diving beneath another,
Rift A crack in rocks or Earth’s crust, creating an ocean trench, causing Tube worm A type of marine worm
GLOSSARY
caused by the rocks pulling apart. earthquakes, and fueling volcanoes. that lives in a protective tube.
Rift valley A region where part of Earth’s Temperate A climate that is neither Turbine A rotor driven by a flow of
crust has dropped into the gap formed very hot nor very cold, or a region that water or air, which can be used to turn
by the crust pulling apart. has such a climate. an electricity generator.
Rorqual A type of large filter- Tentacle A long, boneless extension Unicorn A mythical horse with a single
feeding whale with an expandable of an animal’s body, sometimes armed horn in the middle of its forehead.
throat that can hold a lot of water with stinging cells.
containing food. Upwelling zone A part of the ocean
Thermocline The boundary between where deep water that is rich in plant
Satellite Something that orbits a planet, deep, cold, dense water and a layer of nutrients is drawn up to the surface.
such as Earth, in space. warmer, less dense water that floats
at the surface of oceans. Venom Poison that a biting or stinging
Scavenger An animal that eats animal uses for hunting or defense.
the remains of dead animals and Tidal To do with the tides.
other scraps. Water vapor The gas that forms when
Tidal race A fast-moving tidal current liquid water is warmed and evaporates.
School A group of fish that live that has chaotic waves and whirlpools.
together and sometimes swims in Westerly wind A wind that blows
perfect formation. Tidal stream A horizontal flow of water from west to east.
created by the rise and fall of the tide.
Seamount An ocean-floor volcano, Zooplankton Animals that mainly
active or extinct, that does not break Tidewater glacier A glacier that flows drift in the water, although
the ocean surface to form an island. all the way to the coast and out to sea, some swim actively.
so that its end floats on tidal seawater.
Sediment Solid particles such as sand,
silt, or mud that have settled on the Tissue In biology, living material such as
seabed or ocean floor. bone, muscle, or plant material.
Single-celled Consisting
of just one living cell.
Plants and animals
have many cells.
Index
A birds 65, 96–97, 162–165, 173, 175, 177, continents 24, 25, 26, 28, 36–37
acid, carbonic 241 181, 201 convergent boundaries 31
albatrosses 96, 97, 201 nests and colonies 166–167, 194, 195 Cook, James 135
Aleutians 34 bivalves 120, 121 copepods 74, 75, 90, 126, 192
algae 61, 64, 72, 73, 78, 132, 133, 141, black smokers 31, 225, 229 coral bleaching 241
182, 192, 205 life on 104–105 corals 78, 130, 131, 132–133, 135, 241
alligators 175 blowholes 150 coral reefs 17, 50, 78, 113, 132,
Alvin 224, 225, 227 blue-footed boobies 65, 96 138–139, 142
ammonites 46 blue whales 91 animals of 131, 132–133, 136–139,
INDEX
250
Ekman transport 60, 65 Gulf of Mexico 183, 239 J
El Niño effect 65 Gulf Stream 60, 61, 62, 67 Japan 29, 35, 39
electricity 119, 230–231 gurnards 118 Java Trench 15
erosion 44, 45 gyres 52, 60 jellyfish 76, 98, 130–131
estuaries 169, 172, 173, 176 as prey 168, 169
exoskeletons 126, 127 H
exploration 33, 218–219, 224 hatchetfish 99 K
Hawaii 26, 40, 42, 59, 221 kayaks 215
F He, Zheng 218 kelp 114–115, 117
fat 209 headlands 150, 151, 158 krill 74, 75, 79, 91, 97, 192, 194
filter feeders 77, 79, 80, 88–89, 111, 120, heart urchins 160 Kuril Trench 33
138, 173 heat 50–51
fins 82, 83, 89, 118, 119, 199 herrings 80, 81, 83, 109 L
fish 63, 64, 70, 71, 75, 78, 79, 80–89, 131, holdfasts 114 lagoons 134, 142–143, 159, 163,
135, 155, 156, 157, 160, 175, 177, 178, hotspots 12, 40–41, 42 169, 176
179, 193 human activity 158 landslides 38
INDEX
coral reefs 136–137, 138, 139 Humboldt Current 61 lantern fish 98
dark zone 100–101 hurricanes 55, 57, 174, 220, 241 larvae 75, 126
on the ocean floor 102–103, 118–119 hydrogen 48 lava 26, 30, 40
as prey 82–85, 95, 96, 97, 139, 167, levees 174
177, 184 I lichens 155
twilight zone 98–99 ice 10, 18, 38, 46, 47, 49, 51, 66, 188, 189, limestone 46, 132, 135
fish farms 231 190–191, 194, 210 limpets 78, 113, 154
fishing 109, 232–235, 242, 243 ice fish 193 lionfish 137
overfishing 83, 109, 238 icebergs 18, 202, 204–205, 207, 227 lizards 155, 184, 185
fjords 47 icebreakers 191 lobsters 110, 126, 157
flamingoes 177 Iceland 40 longshore drift 158, 159
flatfish 119, 161 igloos 214
floats 112, 114 Indian Ocean 9, 14–15, 132 M
floor of the oceans 24, 25, 28–29, 30, animals 122, 136, 137, 139, 162, 168, 171, mackerel 80, 85
36–37, 45 183, 184, 185 Maelstrom of Saltstraumen 147
life on 102–103, 110–119 currents 67 Magellan, Ferdinand 219
food chains 78–79 exploration 218 mammals 94
food webs 79 islands 40 see also Arctic fox, dolphins, dugong,
fossils 46, 49 trenches 29 manatee, polar bears, sea lions,
fossil fuels 230 tsunamis 38 sea otters, seals, walruses, whales
fracture zones 16, 17 ink 123 manatee 183
frigatebirds 97, 167 Inuit people 214–215 manganese 229
fur 117, 209, 211 invertebrates 120–121, 138–139, 192 mangroves 178–179, 239
island arcs 34 manta rays 79, 89
G islands 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 51, 142–143, 151, mantle 24, 34, 36
Galápagos Islands 41, 155, 185, 219 171, 185, 200 maps 29
gannets 96, 166 and birds 166, 167 Mariana Trench 32–33, 225
gases 25, 105, 173, 175 creation of 26, 34–35, 40, 41,
as fuel 230 142–143, 151
gastropods 120, 121 and tsunamis 39
Geldermalsen 227
gill rakers 80, 88
gills 80, 82, 88, 104, 105, 170
parasites 137
glaciers 18, 47, 202–203, 204
glass-making 229
global conveyor 66, 67
global warming 67, 240
glow-in-the-dark animals 89, 98,
100, 130
gold 227
granite 24
gravel 229
gravity 146, 147
Great Barrier Reef 134–135
great white sharks 86–87
guano 167
guillemots 97, 166
marine iguanas 155 exploration 218 protozoans 74
marine reserves 243 islands 40, 41 prawns 100, 126, 169
marlin 83 trenches 29, 32, 33, 35 puffins 97, 167
Mary Rose 226 volcanoes 26, 29, 34–35, 40
Mediterranean Sea 8, 120 waves 56, 59 R
melon 95 Pacific Ring of Fire 34–35 razorbills 97
meltwater 47, 240 parasites 137 rays 79, 89, 119, 161
methane 105 parrotfish 113 Red Sea 8, 15, 132
microbes 104, 105, 173, 238 pelicans 175 reefs 110, 111
Mid-Atlantic Ridge 12, 29, 40, 104 penguins 97, 190, 194–197, 198, 201 see also coral reefs
migration 62, 98, 164, 171 peridotite 24 reptiles 184–185
minerals 31, 49, 61, 64, 71, 73, 108, 109, petrels 97 Réunion 40
132, 189, 228–229 photophores 98, 99 ridges 12, 28, 30–31, 36, 37
Mir 225, 227 photosynthesis 73, 112 rifts 13, 15, 17, 30
molecules 48, 49, 66, 190 phytoplankton 64, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, rivers 45, 48, 49, 108, 174, 175, 243
mollusks 111, 120, 141, 161, 173 109, 189, 192 rock pools 156–157
INDEX
monsoons 15 Piccard, Jacques 33 rocks 24, 26, 37, 44, 46, 49, 148, 149
Moon 146, 147 pirates 237 ruffs 163
mountains 28, 29, 30, 34, 202 plankton 45, 61, 64, 65, 67, 70, 71, 80, 88,
mud 29, 45, 109, 172–173, 176 102, 126, 188 S
mudflats 172–173, 176 plants 159, 175, 176, 178, 182 sailboats 18
mudskippers 179 plates 24, 31, 32, 34, 38 sailfish 82, 83
mussels 104, 120, 154, 232 plovers 162 salps 77
pods 199 salts 9, 49, 66, 176, 182
N polar bears 78, 79, 212–213, 240 edible sea salt 228
Namibia 229 polar regions 186–215 salt marshes 176–177
Nansen, Fridjtof 191 Antarctica 18–19, 51, 66, 97, 188, sand 45, 110, 111, 149, 158, 159,
nautiluses 122 189, 191, 193, 194–195, 198–201, 160, 229
North Pole 10, 188, 191, 241 203, 205, 240 sand dunes 158, 159
nutrients 64, 65, 67 Arctic Ocean 9, 10–11, 29, 44, 188, 189, sandstone 46
191, 208–209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 240 sardines 109
O currents 60, 61, 66, 67 Sargasso Sea 62–63
oceanography 219, 220–221 people 215–215, 221 sargassum fish 63
octopods 101 temperature 50 sargassum weed 62
octopuses 79, 110, 115, 123, 124, 157 winds 50, 51 satellites 221
oil 175, 230, 239 pollution 243 scallops 121
orcas 79, 199 dead zones 239 scarlet ibis 181
oxygen 48, 67, 71, 80, 82, 104, 154 oil spills 239 scavengers 102, 115, 122
oystercatchers 163, 164 rubbish 63, 238, 242 schooling 80, 81, 82, 83, 122
sewage 238 scuba diving 222–223
P Polynesian settlers 218 sea cows 183
Pacific Ocean 9, 16–17, 23, 36, 132, 139 polyps 132 sea cucumbers 102, 129
animals of 75, 90, 99, 104, 115, 117, 122, Portuguese man-of-war 76, 77 sea fans 103
136, 137, 139, 168, 169, 183, 184, 185 proteins 49, 73 sea ice 10, 66, 188, 189, 190–191
currents 67 protists 112 sea levels 15, 46–47, 142, 143, 240
sea lions 111, 209
sea otters 115, 117
sea pens 103 storm surges 55 U
sea slugs 77, 121 storms 45, 54–55, 109, 149, 241 upwelling 64–65
sea snails 120, 121, 139, 173, 177, 183 streamlined bodies 80, 82, 122, 168, 197
sea snakes 184, 185 subduction zones 12, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 V
sea squirts 138, 156 submarines 10 venom 123, 131, 137, 139, 161, 185
sea stacks 150, 151, 153, 166 submersibles 33, 220, 224–225, 227 Vasa 226
sea urchins 113, 115, 128 summer 10, 188, 189 Vikings 218
seagrasses 133, 168, 169, 182–183 Sun 22, 48, 52, 147, 188 viperfish 99
seahorses 183 sunlight 50–51, 70, 72, 78, 108, 110, 112, volcanoes 12, 17, 25, 26–27, 29, 30, 34–35,
seals 78, 79, 111, 155, 190, 193, 194, 198, 114, 132, 188 38, 40–43, 142, 200, 201
199, 200, 208–211, 212, 213 sunlit zone 67, 70, 71, 72–77, 108
dangers to 238 surfing 59, 158, 172 W
seamounts 17, 28, 29, 40, 41, 65 surgeonfish 136 walruses 208
seashells 46 surveying 221 Walsh, Don 33
seawater 22, 48–49 swordfish 83 water cycle 48
color of 50, 72 symbiosis 132 water, sea 48–49, 222
INDEX
freezing point of 193 color of 50, 72
seaweeds 62, 72, 73, 78, 110, 112–115, 156, T freezing point of 193
162, 168, 183, 185 temperature 10, 50, 104, 105 waves 38–39, 56–59
giant kelp 114–115, 117 tentacles 76, 77, 98, 103, 111, 122, 123, energy from 231
sediments 29, 46, 65, 110, 129, 174, 129, 130, 131, 132, 156, 161 erosion 44, 148–149
175, 176 thermocline 71 weevers 161
shadow zones 71 tidal bores 172 whales 51, 67, 71 79, 127, 135, 201
shale 46 tidal power 231 baleen whales 90–93
sharks 64, 71, 79, 86–87 tidal races 147 beluga whales 189, 221
filter-feeding sharks 88–89, 109 tides 113, 146–147, 156, 157, 172, 176, blue whales 91
reef sharks 137 177, 178 bowhead whales 90
high tide 38, 147, 161 Bryde’s whales 79
shellfish 104, 154, 161, 232, 241 low tide 160 gray whales 90
as prey 139, 162, 163, 169, 173, 181 neap tide 147, 176 humpback whales 91, 93
shingle 44, 149 spring tide 147, 176 minke whales 91
Shinkai 6500 225 Titanic 202, 224, 227 narwhals 95
shipping 191 tourism 158, 202, 239, 243 pygmy right whales 91
ships 18, 39, 51, 57, 135, 191, 203, 218, trade 18, 218, 219, 227, 236–237 sperm whales 94, 95, 101
219, 236–237 trenches 12, 15, 28, 29, 32–33 toothed whales 94–95
cruise ships 237 Trieste 33 whaling 201
fishing 232–233 tripodfish 103 whirlpools 147
research ships 219, 220 tropical oceans 15, 71, 178–179 whiskers 208
shipwrecks 45, 110, 111, 221, 225, animals of 96, 97, 131, 132, 136–139, wind 15, 18, 50–51, 52, 65, 158, 159
226–227 169, 171 and currents 60
shrimp 51, 71, 104, 139, 157 currents 61 and trade 236
as prey 96, 163, 168, 181 temperature 50 and waves 56, 57
silt 45 winds 50, 55 wind power 230
sliding boundaries 31 tsunamis 15, 38–39 winter 10, 18, 50, 61, 71, 188, 189, 195
sonar 221 tubercles 91 worms 104, 105, 111, 160, 161
sounds 51 tuna 82, 83
Southern Ocean 9, 18–19, 51, 153, 188, turbines 230 Z
200–201 turnicates 138 zones of the ocean 70–71
animals 74, 75, 91, 96, 97, 194–195, turnstones 162 zooplankton 74–75, 78, 192
198–201 turtles 63, 133, 168–169, 175, 182–183,
currents 67 184, 244
waves 57 dangers to 238, 242
spermaceti 95 tusks 95, 208
spits 159 twilight zone 70, 71, 75, 98–99, 224
sponges 138, 139 typhoons 55
spoonbills 163
squid 71, 98, 99, 122, 195
giant squid 101
as prey 94, 96, 97, 111
starfish 128–129, 139
stargazers 118
stilts 163
stingrays 110
stings 76, 77, 130, 131
253
Acknowledgments
Smithsonian Institution: 10 Alamy Images: Danita Delimont Lanting (b). 42 Getty Images: Liane Coombs / Reuters (crb); John Hyde /
Laetitia Plaisance, Program Manager / (ca). Bryan & Cherry Alexander / Cary (tl). 42-43 Getty Images: Paul Design Pics (bl). 68 Alamy Images:
Project Scientist, Office of the Sant ArcticPhoto: (b). NASA: Jacques Souders. 44 Getty Images: Liane Cary Steve Bloom Images (tl). 68-69
Chair for Marine Science, National Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid (tl); Juan Jose Herreo Garcia / Science Photo Library: Christopher
Museum of Natural History, Response Team, NASA / GSFC (cl). Moment Open (cl). 44-45 Alamy Swann. 69 Alamy Images: AF archive
Smithsonian 12 Corbis: Layne Kennedy (ca). Images: Aquascopic (c). 45 Getty (fcla). Corbis: David Jenkins / Robert
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iStockphoto.com: MichaelUtech (cl). Images: Fotosearch (tr). 46 Alamy Harding World Imagery (ca). Getty
Smithsonian Enterprises: naturepl.com: Wild Wonders of Images: Klaus Lang / age fotostock (t). Images: Doug Steakley (cla). 70
Chris Liedel, President; Carol LeBlanc, Europe / Lundgre (bl). 15 Dorling Kindersley: Natural History Alamy Images: Steve Bloom Images
Senior Vice President, Consumer and Dreamstime.com: Ekaterina Vysotina Museum, London (crb). Getty (tl). 71 Alamy Images: Amana images
Education Products; Brigid Ferraro, (cra). Getty Images: Priit Vesilind (br). Images: Liane Cary (tl). 47 Getty inc. (cra). Ardea: Steve Downer (crb).
Vice President, Consumer and Science Photo Library: NASA (cb). Images: Brian Lawrence (b). Science 72 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom
Education Products; Ellen Nanney, 17 Corbis: Bernard Radvaner (tl). Photo Library: Gary Hincks (tc, tr). Images (tl). 72-73 Corbis: Ralph A.
Licensing Manager; Kealy Gordon, SeaPics.com: Michael S. Nolan (crb). 48 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). Clevenger. 73 Corbis: Doug Perrine /
Product Development Manager 18 FLPA: Tui De Roy / Minden 49 Corbis: Paule Seux / Hemis (cl). Nature Picture Library (bc); Norbert
Pictures (cl); Terry Whittaker (bl). Dreamstime.com: Richard Carey (br). Wu / Minden Pictures (cr). Science
DK would like to thank Jane Evans Getty Images: Handout (cb). 20 Getty Images: Paul Souders / Stone Photo Library: John Durham (cl); Jan
for proofreading, Carron Brown Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). 20-21 (cra). 50 Alamy Images: Brandon Hinsch (tc). 74 Alamy Images: Steve
for the index, Joanna Shock, Getty Images: Aaron Foster. 21 Cole Marine Photography (cla); Bloom Images (tl). Corbis: Visuals
Vanessa Daubney, and Ira Pundeer Corbis: Ron Dahlquist (cla); Don Reinhard Dirscherl (clb). Getty Unlimited (clb). imagequestmarine.
for editorial assistance, Neha Sharma, King / Design Pics (fcla). Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). NASA: com: (c). 74-75 SeaPics.com: Richard
Namita, Vaibhav Fauzdar, Vansh Images: Federica Grassi (cra). 22 MODIS Instrument Team, NASA / Herrmann (c). 75 Corbis: Gerald &
Kohli, and Steve Woosnam-Savage for 123RF.com: Artem Mykhaylichenko GSFC (cb). 50-51 Getty Images: Buff Corsi / Visuals Unlimited (ca).
design assistance, and Bimlesh Tiwary (bl). Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). Linda Mckie (bc). 51 Alamy Images: Getty Images: Franco Banfi (crb).
for DTP assistance. 22-23 Dorling Kindersley: Surya RGB Ventures / SuperStock (tr). imagequestmarine.com: (cb). 76-77
Sarangi / NASA / USGS (cb). 23 OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell Dreamstime.com: Steven Melanson.
The publisher would like to thank the Alamy Images: Norbert Probst / (crb). 52 Getty Images: Liane Cary 76 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom
following for their kind permission to imageBROKER (cra). Getty Images: (tl). 52-53 Alamy Images: Tsuneo Images (tl). Corbis: Stephen Frink /
reproduce their photographs: valentinrussanov / E+ (b). Nakamura / Volvox Inc (c). 53 Alamy [email protected] (bl). 77 Getty
iStockphoto.com: BrendanHunter Images: Chris Cameron (br); David Images: Visuals Unlimited, Inc. /
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; (cr). 24 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). Tipling (cra). Getty Images: Mike Hill Richard Herrmann (bc). Robert
c-center; f-far; l-left; r-right; t-top) Trustees of the National Museums of (tr). 54-55 Corbis: Yevgen Timashov / Harding Picture Library: Andrew
Scotland: (br). 25 Robert Harding beyond. 54 Getty Images: Liane Cary Davies (cr). SeaPics.com: Saul Gonor
1 Alamy Images: Photoshot Holdings Picture Library: Guy Edwardes (bl); (tl). 55 Alamy Images: keith morris (tr). 78 Alamy Images: SCHMITT /
Ltd. 2-3 Getty Images: Alexander Last Refuge (t). 26 Getty Images: news (tr). Getty Images: Helifilms BSIP (cr); De Meester Johan / Arterra
Safonov. 4 Alamy Images: Aquascopic Liane Cary (tl). 26-27 Corbis: epa / Australia (br). NASA: Hal Pierce (cra). Picture Library (c); Steve Bloom
(cr/shipwreck). Corbis: Layne Bruce Omori. 28 Getty Images: Liane 56 Alamy Images: david gregs (clb); Images (tl). Robert Harding Picture
Kennedy (cra). Dreamstime.com: Cary (tl). Science Photo Library: (c); ImagePix (bl). Getty Images: Liane Library: Marevision (cl). 79 Alamy
Steven Melanson (crb/jellyfish). Getty Dr Ken Macdonald (cr). 29 Cary (tl). iStockphoto.com: Images: Image Source (c). Getty
Images: Handout (tr). NASA: Hal Copyright by Marie Tharp DanBrandenburg (cla). Science Photo Images: Marevision / age fotostock
Pierce (crb). naturepl.com: Jurgen 1977/2003. Reproduced by Library: Duncan Shaw (c). 56-57 (cl). SeaPics.com: Doug Perrine (t).
Freund (br). Robert Harding Picture permission of Marie Tharp: (tr). Corbis: Philip Stephen / Nature 80-81 naturepl.com: Jurgen Freund
Library: Frans Lanting (cr). Science NASA: Norman Kuring, SeaWiFS Picture Library. 57 Corbis: Seth (b). 80 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom
Photo Library: NASA (cra/Sea). 5 Project / Visible Earth (tl). Science Resnick / Science Faction (tr). 58 Images (tl); WaterFrame (c).
Alamy Images: Reinhard Dirscherl Photo Library: Dr Ken Macdonald Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). 58-59 Dreamstime.com: Peter Leahy (bl).
(ca/kelp); blickwinkel / Schmidbauer (cl); Worldsat International (cr). Robert Harding Picture Library: Eric 81 Barcroft Media Ltd: Alexey Stoyda
(tc); nagelestock.com (cb); Universal 30 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). Sanford. 60-61 NASA: Goddard (tr). 82 Alamy Images: Mark Conlin
Images Group Limited (bc); Ariadne NOAA: (tr). 31 Science Photo Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE (tl); Steve Bloom Images (ftl). Corbis:
Van Zandbergen (cra/seal). Corbis: Library: Dr. Ken MacDonald. (c). 60 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). Doug Perrine / Nature Picture Library
Georgette Douwma / Nature Picture 32 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). 61 123RF.com: Andrew Roland (cra). (br). FLPA: Jon Baldur Hlidberg /
Library (ca); Jurgen Freund / Nature Science Photo Library: Martin 62-63 OceanwideImages.com: Minden Pictures (bl). 83 Alamy
Picture Library (cb/crabs); Ralph Jakobsson (bc). 33 Science Photo Michael Patrick O’Neill. 62 Corbis: Images: Design Pics Inc (bl). Corbis:
White / Encyclopedia (cra); GM Library: NOAA (tr). 34 Alamy Wil Meinderts / Buiten-beeld / Doug Perrine / Nature Picture Library
Visuals / Blend Images (cr/diver); Images: Nigel Hicks (cb). Getty Minden Pictures (br). Getty Images: (tl). naturepl.com: Doug Perrine (c).
Paul Souders (crb/polar bear). Images: Liane Cary (tl); Øystein Lund Liane Cary (tl). 63 Alamy Images: 84 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom
Dreamstime.com: Dibrova (tr). Getty Andersen / E+ (cl). 34-35 Science Masa Ushioda (crb). Corbis: Jurgen Images (tl). 84-85 Science Photo
Images: Jf / Cultura (br); Georgette Photo Library: NASA (c). 35 Corbis: Freund / Nature Picture Library (clb). Library: Christopher Swann. 86
Douwma (c). OceanwideImages. Michael S. Yamashita (crb). 36 Getty NOAA: (cra). Science Photo Library: Alamy Images: Norbert Probst /
com: Gary Bell (c/lionfish). Images: Liane Cary (tl); Fuse (clb). Dante Fenolio (cb). 64-65 SeaPics. imageBROKER (cl); Steve Bloom
Photoshot: Ashley Cooper (crb). 38 Getty Images: Liane Cary (tl). com: Bob Cranston (t). 64 Getty Images (tl). Corbis: Fred Bavendam /
Robert Harding Picture Library: 39 Getty Images: JIJI Press (t); Athit Images: Liane Cary (tl). Science Minden Pictures (clb). Getty Images:
Pete Ryan (cr). 6-19 NASA: R. Perawongmetha (bl). 40 Corbis: Jim Photo Library: Dr Gene Feldman, Awashima Marine Park (bl). SeaPics.
Stockli, A. Nelson, F. Hasler, GSFC / Sugar (c); Bernd Vogel (cra). Getty NASA GSFC (bl). 65 FLPA: Tui De com: Doug Perrine (cla). 86-87
NOAA / USGS (tl/side panel). 6-7 Images: Liane Cary (tl). 41 Alamy Roy / Minden Pictures (bl). 66 Corbis: Visuals Unlimited (c).
NASA. 7 Corbis: Stephen Frink (fcla). Images: Ken Welsh (cr). Corbis: Corbis: Kike Calvo / National 87 Photoshot: Oceans-Image (cr).
Dreamstime.com: Epicstock (cla). John Farmar / Ecoscene (tl). Robert Geographic Society (b). Getty Images: Robert Harding Picture Library:
Science Photo Library: NOAA (ca). Harding Picture Library: Frans Liane Cary (tl). 67 Corbis: Kevin Jody Watt (tr). 88 Alamy Images:
254
Steve Bloom Images (tl). Corbis: Dan 108 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden Wil Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). Minden Pictures (br). SeaPics.com:
Burton / Nature Picture Library (cl). Pictures (tl). NASA: Robert Simmon Getty Images: Oxford Scientific (bc). David B. Fleetham (cra). 156-157
Robert Harding Picture Library: (bl). 109 naturepl.com: Inaki Robert Harding Picture Library: Photo by Joel Metlen. 156 Alamy
Alan James (c). 88-89 Alamy Images: Relanzon (clb). SuperStock: Andre Seale (cb). 133 Corbis: Todd Images: Steve. Trewhella (cl). Corbis:
YAY Media AS. Corbis: Mauricio John Hyde / Alaska Stock - Design Winner / Stocktrek Images (bc). Getty Juan Carlos Muñoz / age fotostock
Handler / National Geographic Pics (br). 110 Corbis: Tor / Images: Georgette Douwma (cb). Spain S.L. (tl). 157 Dreamstime.com:
Society (bc). 89 naturepl.com: Alex imageBROKER (tr). FLPA: Wil Photoshot: NHPA (tc). 134 Corbis: Pnwnature (t). naturepl.com: Jose B.
Mustard (br). SeaPics.com: Bruce Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). Ingo Arndt / Minden Pictures (clb). Ruiz (crb). 158 Corbis: Juan Carlos
Rasner (tr). 90 Alamy Images: Steve Getty Images: Lisa Collins (clb). FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl);
Bloom Images (tl); John Tunney (bl). 110-111 Robert Harding Picture Pictures (tl). 134-135 NASA: (c). 135 Larry Dale Gordon (t). Dreamstime.
Corbis: Mike Paterson / National Library: Lawson Wood (bc). 111 Getty Images: DEA / G. Dagli Orti com: Michael Thompson (bl); Susan
Geographic Creative (br). Getty Alamy Images: National Geographic (cr). OceanwideImages.com: Gary Robinson (br). 159 Aurora Photos:
Images: Paul Nicklen (cb). 90-91 Image Collection (cr). Photoshot: Bell (cra, br). 136 Corbis: Aflo (bc). Peter Essick (tl). Corbis: Neil
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
naturepl.com: Sue Flood (tr). Gordon MacSkimming / Dreamstime.com: Mikhail Blajenov Rabinowitz (cl); Skyscan. 160 Ardea:
91 Getty Images: SCIEPRO (br). PictureNature (cla). Robert Harding (clb). FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden David Kilbey (bl). Corbis: Juan Carlos
SeaPics.com: Mark Carwardine (cb). Picture Library: Sue Daly (tc). 112 Pictures (tl). SeaPics.com: David B. Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl).
92 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom Alamy Images: Reinhard Dirscherl (l). Fleetham (tr, c). 136-137 Getty SeaPics.com: Marc Chamberlain (cl).
Images (tl). 92-93 Alamy Images: FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden Images: Visuals Unlimited, Inc. / 160-161 Photoshot: Laurie
Design Pics Inc. 94-95 Alamy Pictures (tl). Getty Images: Darryl Marty Snyderman (bc). 137 Alamy Campbell. 161 Flickr / Derek
Images: blickwinkel / Schmidbauer Torckler (crb). 113 Alamy Images: Images: Erik Schlogl (cra). Getty Haslam: (crb). Arne Hückelheim:
(bc). 94 Alamy Images: Douglas Steve Bloom Images (tc). Adrian P. Images: Image Source (tc). (tr). 162 Alamy Images: Genevieve
Fisher (cra); Steve Bloom Images (tl). Ashworth: (c). naturepl.com: OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell Vallee (bl). Corbis: Juan Carlos
95 Getty Images: Paul Nicklen (crb). Brandon Cole (cr). Robert Harding (crb). 138 Alamy Images: Michael Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl).
SeaPics.com: Doug Perrine (cl). 96 Picture Library: Marevision (crb, br). Patrick O’Neill (tl). Corbis: Hal Beral Manjeet & Yograj Jadeja: (tr).
Alamy Images: Steve Bloom Images 114 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden / Visuals Unlimited (bl). FLPA: Wil 162-163 Dreamstime.com: Kevin
(tl). Robert Harding Picture Library: Pictures (tl). OceanwideImages.com: Meinderts / Minden Pictures (ftl). 139 Winkler. 163 Alamy Images: Cal
Michael Nolan (br); Malcolm Schuyl Gary Bell (bl). 114-115 Alamy OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell Vornberger (cb). Ardea: M. Watson
(bl). 96-97 Alamy Images: Bill Coster Images: Mark Conlin. 115 Corbis: (br). Robert Harding Picture (tr). Getty Images: Javier Tajuelo (br).
(tl). 97 (c) Mat & Cathy Gilfedder: Fred Bavendam / Minden Pictures Library: Reinhard Dirscherl (tr); Dave Photoshot: Jordi Bas Casas (cl).
(br). naturepl.com: Alex Mustard / (br); Norbert Wu / Minden Pictures Fleetham (cla). 140 FLPA: Wil 164 Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age
2020VISION (c); Markus Varesvuo (tc, cr). 116 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). 164-165
(clb). Robert Harding Picture Minden Pictures (tl). 116-117 Alamy 140-141 Dreamstime.com: Izanbar. Corbis: Flip de Nooyer / Minden
Library: Michael Nolan (tr). 98 Images: Steve Bly. 118 Alamy 142 Alamy Images: F1online digitale Pictures. 166 Alamy Images: Ann and
Alamy Images: Steve Bloom Images Images: Reinhard Dirscherl (bl). Bildagentur GmbH (c). FLPA: Wil Steve Toon (cl); Rolf Hicker
(tl). NOAA: Deep East 2001, NOAA / Corbis: Visuals Unlimited (cra). Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). Photography (b). Corbis: Juan Carlos
OER (clb). 98-99 FLPA: Photo FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden 142-143 Alamy Images: Ian Bottle Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl).
Researchers (b). SeaPics.com: Michael Pictures (tl). SeaPics.com: (cl). (tc). Getty Images: Photoshot: Alan Barnes (cr).
Aw (t). 99 Corbis: Michael Ready / 119 FLPA: Pierre Lobel. Mint Images - Frans Lanting (bc). 167 Dreamstime.com: Hecke01 (c).
Visuals Unlimited (clb); David Shale / imagequestmarine.com: (tl). 120 143 Alamy Images: WaterFrame (br). Getty Images: Steve Ward Nature
Nature Picture Library (tc). Getty Alamy Images: cbimages (cra). FLPA: Corbis: Yann Arthus-Bertrand (cra). Photography (br); Tui De Roy (t).
Images: Paul A. Zahl (br). 100 Alamy Wil Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). NASA: (cb). 144 Corbis: Juan Carlos 168 Alamy Images: Visual&Written
Images: Bluegreen Pictures (c); Steve Getty Images: Reinhard Dirscherl Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). SL (bl). Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz /
Bloom Images (tl). Getty Images: (bl). imagequestmarine.com: (c). 144-145 OceanwideImages.com: age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). Robert
Oxford Scientific / Photodisc (bc). 120-121 Alamy Images: cbpix. Gary Bell. 145 Corbis: Carl & Ann Harding Picture Library: Jason
100-101 Corbis: Norbert Wu / 121 Dorling Kindersley: The Natural Purcell (cla); Patricio Robles Gil / Bazzano (tr). 168-169 Corbis:
Minden Pictures (ca). History Museum, London (c). Nature Picture Library (fcla). SeaPics. Tim Fitzharris / Minden Pictures. 169
imagequestmarine.com: Peter 122 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden com: V&W / Fritz Poelking (ca). Corbis: Solvin Zankl / Nature Picture
Herring (b). 101 Alamy Images: Pictures (ftl). Robert Harding Picture 146-147 Alamy Images: Library (tr). OceanwideImages.com:
Nicemonkey (br). naturepl.com: Library: Reinhard Dirscherl (tl); nobleIMAGES. Corbis: Topic Photo Michael Patrick O’Neill (br). 170
David Shale (tr). 102-103 Corbis: Marevision (crb). 122-123 Agency (tc). 146 Corbis: Lee Frost / Alamy Images: Natural Visions (c).
Georgette Douwma / Nature Picture Photoshot: NHPA (b). 123 Getty Robert Harding World Imagery (cb); Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age
Library (bc). 102 Alamy Images: Images: Jeff Rotman (cr). naturepl. Juan Carlos Muñoz / age fotostock fotostock Spain S.L. (tl); Peter Johnson
Steve Bloom Images (tl). Corbis: com: Michael Pitts (tl). 124 FLPA: Spain S.L. (tl). 147 Corbis: Wild (b). OceanwideImages.com: Gary
Fred Bavendam / Minden Pictures Wil Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). Wonders of Europe / Lundgren / Bell (cr). 170-171 Corbis: Jurgen
(bc). naturepl.com: Jurgen Freund 124-125 FLPA: Fred Bavendam / Nature Picture Library (ca). 148 Freund / Nature Picture Library. 171
(clb). NOAA: Deep East 2001, NOAA Minden Pictures. 126-127 Alamy Images: Mike VanDeWalker. Getty Images: Morales (t). naturepl.
/ OER (cra). 103 Alamy Images: OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age com: Ingo Arndt (c). 172 Corbis:
Ralph Bixler / age fotostock (cra). (c). 126 Flickr / Derek Haslam: (cl). fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). 149 Alamy Juan Carlos Muñoz / age fotostock
NOAA: OER (crb). 104 Alamy FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden Images: nagelestock.com (clb). Spain S.L. (tl); Sergio Moraes / Reuters
Images: Steve Bloom Images (tl). Pictures (tl). naturepl.com: Kim Corbis: Ron Dahlquist (bc). Rex (bl). NASA: Jacques Descloitres,
Corbis: Ralph White (cla). Taylor (cb). 127 naturepl.com: Mark Features: John McLellan (tl). 150 MODISRapid Response Team, NASA
imagequestmarine.com: (clb). Carwardine (crb); Nature Production Corbis: Aflo (cr); Juan Carlos Muñoz / GSFC (c). 172-173 Corbis: Annie
NOAA: NOAA Okeanos Explorer (ca, cra); Bertie Gregory (cr). / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl); Image Griffiths Belt.
Program, Mid-Cayman Rise 128 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Minden Source (b). 151 Alamy Images: (t, b). 173 Corbis: Michael Freeman (t);
Expedition 2011 (cr). Woods Hole Pictures (tl). naturepl.com: Georgette Getty Images: Alex Robinson (c). Paul Souders (b). FLPA: Steve
Oceanographic Instititution: Photo Douwma (clb). 128-129 Getty 152 Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age Trewhella (c). 174 Corbis: Juan Carlos
by HOV Alvin (bc). 105 Science Images: Michael Aw (c). fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). 152-153 Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl).
Photo Library: NOAA PMEL Vents 129 Dreamstime.com: Olga Dreamstime.com: Steveheap. NASA: NASA image created by Jesse
Program. SeaPics.com: Susan Dabritz Khoroshunova (cb). Getty Images: 154 Alamy Images: Stuart Hall (c). Allen, Earth Observatory, using data
(bl). 106 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Paul Kay (tr). 130 FLPA: Wil Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age obtained from the University of
Minden Pictures (tl). 106-107 Meinderts / Minden Pictures (tl). fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). Getty Maryland’s (bl). 174-175 Alamy
OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell. 130-131 Richard L. Lord: Sealord Images: Design Pics / John Images: Universal Images Group
107 OceanwideImages.com: Photography. 131 Ardea: Auscape , Doornkamp (bc). 154-155 Limited. 175 Alamy Images: Barry
Gary Bell (fcla, cla, ca). 108-109 ardea.com (ca). OceanwideImages. Bcasterline / English Wikipedia Iverson (c). Corbis: Wild Wonders of
Getty Images: Ellen van Bodegom. com: Gary Bell (crb, bc). 132 FLPA: Project. 155 Corbis: Tui De Roy / Europe / Presti / Nature Picture
255
Library (b). 176 Corbis: Juan Carlos 193 Corbis: Norbert Wu / Minden Puddy / Crave (ca); Norbert Wu / Dreamstime.com: Ruth Peterkin
Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (ftl). Pictures (crb/background). Getty Minden Pictures (fcla). 218 (cra). 238-239 Corbis: Najlah Feanny
Robert Harding Picture Library: Images: Maria Stenzel / National Bridgeman Images: Pictures From / Corbis SABA. 238 Alamy Images:
Sabine Lubenow (tl). 176-177 Geographic (crb/seals). Science Photo History (tr). Getty Images: Henning Photoshot Holdings Ltd (cb). Corbis:
rspb-images.com: Ben Hall. 177 Library: British Antarctic Survey (tc). Bagger / AFP (c); Estate of Keith Natalie Fobes / Science Faction (cl).
Corbis: Theo Allofs / Terra (cl). FLPA: 194 Corbis: Momatiuk - Eastcott / Morris / Redferns (tl). 219 Getty Getty Images: Estate of Keith Morris /
Ingo Arndt / Minden Pictures (tr). Ramble (cl); Tetra Images (tl). Robert Images: Paul Kennedy / Lonely Planet Redferns (tl). SuperStock: Scubazoo
178 123RF.com: wirojsid (cra). Harding Picture Library: Michael Images (br). 220 Getty Images: Estate (br). 239 Dreamstime.com:
Corbis: Reinhard Dirscherl / Nolan (c). 194-195 Alamy Images: of Keith Morris / Redferns (tl). Markuso53 (clb). NASA: MODIS
Encyclopedia (bl); Juan Carlos Muñoz Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH. 195 National Oceanography Centre, Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space
/ age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). Corbis: Stefan Christmann / Latitude Southampton: (cla). Woods Hole Flight Center (br). 240 Getty Images:
178-179 Dreamstime.com: Dibrova. (cb); Tim Davis / DLILLC (tl); Frans Oceanographic Instititution: Photo Estate of Keith Morris / Redferns (tl);
179 Corbis: Stephen Dalton / Lemmens / Flame (tr). 196 Corbis: by Rod Catanach © 2013 (cb). Pacific Press / LightRocket (cl).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Minden Pictures (tc). Dreamstime. Tetra Images (tl). 196-197 Getty 220-221 Photoshot. 221 Science 240-241 Corbis: Paul Souders.
com: Leung Cho Pan / Leungchopan Images: Paul Nicklen. 200 Corbis: Photo Library: NOAA (tr). 222 241 Alamy Images: Imagebroker /
(crb); Feathercollector (cra); James Tetra Images (ftl). Dreamstime.com: Alamy Images: WaterFrame (cl). Helmut Corneli (c); Luc Hoogenstein
Shearing / Jimbomp44 (bc). Dmytro Pylypenko / Pilipenkod (tl). Getty Images: Estate of Keith Morris / / Buiten-Beeld (br). Getty Images:
180 Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age Getty Images: Specialist Stock / Redferns (tl). 222-223 Corbis: GM Portland Press Herald (tl). 242 Getty
fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). 180-181 Barcroft Media (b). 201 Corbis: Visuals / Blend Images. 223 Corbis: Images: Estate of Keith Morris /
FLPA: Konrad Wothe / Minden Fotofeeling / Westend61 (br). Jonathan Blair / Latitude (c). Robert Redferns (tl). SeaPics.com: Doug
Pictures. 182 Corbis: Juan Carlos naturepl.com: Andy Rouse (cr). Harding Picture Library: Len Deeley Perrine (clb, cl). 242-243 Getty
Muñoz / age fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). Robert Harding Picture Library: (tr); Andrey Nekrasov (br). 224 Images: Jf / Cultura. 243
OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell Michael Nolan (tl). 202 Corbis: Tetra Corbis: Ralph White / Historical Dreamstime.com: Rechitan Sorin
(cra). 182-183 Getty Images: M Images (tl). Getty Images: Steven L. (clb). Getty Images: Estate of Keith (cr). Robert Harding Picture
Swiet Productions / Moment. 183 Raymer / National Geographic (bc). Morris / Redferns (tl). Woods Hole Library: Georgie Holland (tr);
Alamy Images: Brandon Cole Marine Science Photo Library: (tr). Oceanographic Instititution: Douglas Peebles (bl). 244 Getty
Photography (tl). Dreamstime.com: SuperStock: Radius (crb). 203 Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander © Images: Estate of Keith Morris /
Dmytro Pylypenko / Pilipenkod (cr). Corbis: Andy Rouse / Nature Picture 2013 (bc). 224-225 National Redferns (tl). 244-245 Corbis:
SeaPics.com: D. R. Schrichte (br). Library (cla). Dreamstime.com: Geographic Stock: Handout. Stephen Frink. 246 Corbis: Larry
184 Corbis: Juan Carlos Muñoz / age Davis2247 (tr). Getty Images: Ben 225 Getty Images: Paul Nicklen / Dale Gordon (t). Getty Images:
fotostock Spain S.L. (tl). scubazoo. Cranke / The Image Bank (b). Robert National Geographic (tr). Woods Jeffysurianto / Room (tl). 248 Getty
com: Jason Isley (tr). 184-185 Robert Harding Picture Library: Mike Hill Hole Oceanographic Instititution: Images: Jeffysurianto / Room (tl).
Harding Picture Library: Reinhard (c). 204 Corbis: Tetra Images (ftl). (br). 226 Alamy Images: Stefan Auth 249 Alamy Images: cbpix (b).
Dirscherl. 185 Alamy Images: Mark Dreamstime.com: Philip Dickson / / imageBROKER (cl); Jan Greune / 250 Getty Images: Jeffysurianto /
Conlin (cla). Corbis: Ira Block / Psdphotography (tl, tc, tr, ftr). LOOK Die Bildagentur der Room (tl). 252 Getty Images:
National Geographic Creative (tr). 204-205 FLPA: Wil Meinderts / Fotografen GmbH (bl); Neil Holmes / Jeffysurianto / Room (tl); M Swiet
Photoshot: NHPA / Adrian Minden Pictures. 205 Corbis: Ralph Holmes Garden Photos (cra). Getty Productions / Moment (b).
Hepworth (cr). 186 Corbis: Tetra A. Clevenger / Crave (tl); Colin Images: Estate of Keith Morris / 254 Getty Images: Jeffysurianto /
Images (tl). 186-187 FLPA: Monteath / Hedgehog House / Redferns (tl). 227 Corbis: Heritage Room (tl). Photolibrary: Image
Jean-Jacques Pangrazi / Biosphoto. Minden Pictures (cra). 206 Corbis: Images / Fine Art (cl). Rex Features: Source (b). 138 -139 Robert Harding
187 Corbis: Paul A. Souders / Tetra Images (tl). 206-207 Corbis: Sipa Press (tc). Science Photo Picture Library: J. W. Alker.
Latitude (cla); Konrad Wothe / Frans Lanting / Latitude. 208 Alamy Library: NOAA (b). 228 Getty
Minden Pictures (fcla). Getty Images: Images: Ariadne Van Zandbergen Images: Estate of Keith Morris / Jacket images: Front: Alamy Images:
James Balog / Stone (ca). 188 Corbis: (cra). Corbis: Tetra Images (tl). Redferns (tl). Siemens AG, Munich/ Robert Harding World Imagery bl.
Tetra Images (tl). Getty Images: Kim 208-209 Alamy Images: Wayne Berlin: (bl). 228-229 Getty Images: Dreamstime.com: Kirsten Wahlquist
Westerskov / Photographer’s Choice Lynch / All Canada Photos. 209 Pham Le Huong Son / Moment / Xfkirsten fbl. FLPA: Reinhard
RF (cl). 188-189 NASA: NASA image Corbis: C. Huetter / Encyclopedia Open. 229 Alamy Images: Dirscherl c. Fotolia: Silver br.
by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid (tc). naturepl.com: Aflo (cra). 210 blickwinkel / Koenig (tr). Corbis: Photolibrary: moodboard fbr.
Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Corbis: Flip Nicklin / Minden Olivier Polet / Corbis News (c); STR / Back: Alamy Images: Aquascopic bl.
Center. Caption by Michon Scott.. Pictures (cl); Tetra Images (tl). SRI LANKA / Reuters (br). 230 Corbis: Gary Bell fbr; epa / Bruce
189 Alamy Images: Doug Allan / 210-211 SuperStock: age fotostock. Corbis: Eric Kulin / First Light (cl). Omori br. Dreamstime.com:
Nature Picture Library (crb). NASA: 211 Alamy Images: Wildlife GmbH Getty Images: Estate of Keith Morris / Vilainecrevette c. Robert Harding
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, (br). naturepl.com: Doug Allan (tr). Redferns (tl). 230-231 Photoshot: Picture Library: Eric Sanford fbl.
MODIS Rapid Response Team at 212 Alamy Images: Roberta Olenick / Ashley Cooper. 231 Marine Current Spine: Dreamstime.com:
NASA GSFC. Caption by Mike All Canada Photos (bl). Corbis: Tetra Turbines Limited / A Siemens Vilainecrevette b. FLPA: Reinhard
Carlowicz and Holli Riebeek, with Images (tl). FLPA: Sergey Gorshkov / Business: (cr). Rex Features: Sipa Dirscherl t. Front Flap: Getty Images:
interpretation from Barney Balch Minden Pictures (cl). 212-213 Alamy Press (tr). 232 FLPA: Robert Henno / Paul Nicklen b.
(Bigelow Laboratory) and Norman Images: Paulette Sinclair. 213 Getty Biosphoto (bl). Getty Images: Luis
Kuring and Sergio Signorini of NASA’s Images: Wayne R. Bilenduke / Stone Marden / Contributor / National All other images © Dorling Kindersley
Goddard Space Flight Center. (cr); (cra). naturepl.com: Steven Kazlowski Geographic (tr); Estate of Keith For further information see:
World Wind (tl). 190 Corbis: Flip (tl). 214 Corbis: Michael DeYoung / Morris / Redferns (tl). Robert www.dkimages.com
Nicklin / Minden Pictures (bc); Tetra Design Pics / Canopy (bl); Tetra Harding Picture Library: Gavin
Images (tl); Rick Price / Documentary Images (tl). Getty Images: Michael Hellier (cr). 233 Corbis: Bill
Value (bl). Robert Harding Picture Sewell / Photolibrary (c). 214-215 Broadhurst / FLPA / Minden Pictures
Library: Colin Monteath (cl); Michael Corbis: Beat Glanzmann / Comet. (tr). Robert Harding Picture Library:
Nolan (br). 190-191 Corbis: Ralph 215 Alamy Images: Jeff Schultz / Michael Nolan (b). 234 Getty
White / Encyclopedia. 191 Corbis: Design Pics Inc (cr). Getty Images: Images: Estate of Keith Morris /
Topic Photo Agency / Passage (tr). Werner Forman / Universal Images Redferns (tl). 234-235 Magnum
Getty Images: Oesterreichsches Group Editorial (tr). Robert Harding Photos: Steve McCurry. 236-237
Volkshochschularchiv / Imagno / Picture Library: Pete Ryan (tl). 216 Corbis: Kike Calvo / National
Hulton Archive (cr). 192 Alamy Getty Images: Estate of Keith Morris / Geographic Creative. 236 Alamy
Images: Kim Westerskov (c). Corbis: Redferns (tl). 216-217 Images: Dalgleish Images (tl). Getty
Flip Nicklin / Minden Pictures (bl); OceanwideImages.com: Gary Bell. Images: Estate of Keith Morris /
Tetra Images (tl). 192-193 Corbis: 217 Alamy Images: Image Source / Redferns (ftl). 237 Corbis: Ron
Norbert Wu / Minden Pictures. IS-200610 (cla). Corbis: Martin Chapple (tl); HO / Reuters (crb).
256